Al Capone : his life, legacy, and legend

The Resource Al Capone : his life, legacy, and legend
Label
Al Capone : his life, legacy, and legend
Title remainder
his life, legacy, and legend
Statement of responsibility
Deirdre Bair
Creator
Author
Subject
Genre
Language
eng
Summary
"Born in 1899 in Brooklyn, New York, to poor, Italian immigrant parents, Al Capone went on to become the most infamous gangster in American history. In 1925, during the height of Prohibition, Capone's multi-million-dollar Chicago bootlegging, prostitution, and gambling operation dominated the organized-crime scene. His competition with rival gangs was brutally violent, a long-running war that crested with the shocking St. Valentine's Day Massacre of 1929. Through it all, and despite the best efforts of law enforcement and the media elite, Capone remained above the fray. Federal income-tax evasion was the strongest charge that could be made to stick, and in 1931 he was sentenced to eleven years in federal prison. After serving six-and-a-half years, mostly in Alcatraz, a severely impaired Capone, badly damaged by neurosyphillis, was released to live out his final years with his family in Miami. From his heyday to the present moment, Al Capone's life has gripped the public imagination, and his gangster persona has been immortalized in the countless movies and books inspired by his exploits. But who was the man behind the legend? Capone loved to tell tall tales that perpetuated his mystique; newspapers loved him and frequently embellished or fabricated stories about him to sell copies. While some remember him as fundamentally kind and good, others speak of how frightening he was, a vicious, cold-blooded killer. Was Al really such a quotable wit? Did he really shower the poor with hundred-dollar bills and silver dollars from the window of his bulletproof car? Did he really keep a bevy of mistresses ensconced in his hotel headquarters in Chicago? Writing with exclusive access to Capone's descendants, Deirdre Bair finally gets at the truth behind this eternally fascinating man, who was equal parts charismatic mobster, doting father, and calculating monster"--
Assigning source
Provided by publisher
Biography type
individual biography
Cataloging source
DLC
Dewey number
  • 364.1092
  • B
Illustrations
  • illustrations
  • plates
Index
index present
LC call number
HV6248.C17
LC item number
B34 2016
Literary form
non fiction
Nature of contents
bibliography

Context

Context of Al Capone : his life, legacy, and legend

Work of

Structured data from the Bibframe namespace is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Nevins Memorial Library (Methuen). Additional terms may apply to data associated with third party namespaces.