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The gangs of Chicago : an informal history of the Chicago underworld / Herbert Asbury.

By: Material type: TextTextPublication details: New York : Thunder's Mouth Press : Distributed by Publishers Group West, [2002].Description: 1 v. (various pagings) : ill., maps ; 21 cmISBN:
  • 1560254548 (trade paper)
  • 9781560254546 (trade paper)
Other title:
  • Informal history of the Chicago underworld
Subject(s):
Contents:
Foreword -- Introduction -- illustrations -- Evolution of slab town -- "First the blade..." -- "We are beset on every side" -- "The withered rose levees of society" -- "There's a sucker born every minute" -- The monster of sixty-third street -- "Reign of terror is upon the city -- Scarlet sisters and their times -- Fight against th the levee -- Big shots -- Bibliography -- Index.
Summary: The story of Chicago's golden age of crime climaxes with a dramatic account of the careers of the "biggest of the Big Shots": Big Jim Colosimo, Terrible Johnny Torrio, and the elusive Al Capone. The perfect companion to "The Gangs of New York, " now being made into a major Martin Scorsese film starring Leonardo DiCaprio.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 364.106 A799 Available 33111005709049
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

This classic history of crime tells how Chicago's underworld earned -- and kept -- its reputation. Recounting the lives of such notorious denizens as the original Mickey Finn, the mass murderer H. H. Holmes, and the three Car Barn Bandits, Asbury reveals life as it was lived in the criminal districts of the Levee, Hell's Half-Acre, the Bad Lands, Little Cheyenne, Custom House Place, and the Black Hole. His description of Chicago's infamous red light district -- where the brothels boasted opulence unheard of before or since -- vividly captures the wicked splendor that was Chicago. The Gangs of Chicago spans from the time "Slab Town" was settled to Prohibition days. The story of Chicago's golden age of crime climaxes with a dramatic account of the careers of the "biggest of the Big Shots": Big Jim Colosimo, Terrible Johnny Torrio, and the elusive Al Capone. Photographs and illustrations round out this telling of Chicago's early underworld. "Still the most detailed, reliable, and readable account of the nether side of Chicago's first century, deserves reading and rereading . . . " -- Perry R. Duis, Chicago historian

Originally published: Gem of the prairie. New York : A.A. Knopf, 1940.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [375]-377) and index.

Foreword -- Introduction -- illustrations -- Evolution of slab town -- "First the blade..." -- "We are beset on every side" -- "The withered rose levees of society" -- "There's a sucker born every minute" -- The monster of sixty-third street -- "Reign of terror is upon the city -- Scarlet sisters and their times -- Fight against th the levee -- Big shots -- Bibliography -- Index.

The story of Chicago's golden age of crime climaxes with a dramatic account of the careers of the "biggest of the Big Shots": Big Jim Colosimo, Terrible Johnny Torrio, and the elusive Al Capone. The perfect companion to "The Gangs of New York, " now being made into a major Martin Scorsese film starring Leonardo DiCaprio.

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