Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
A legendary novelist and acclaimed rising historian combine talents in this groundbreaking dual biography of Al Capone, America's most notorious gangster, and Eliot Ness, the upright Prohibition agent who helped bring him down.
In 1929, thirty-year-old Al Capone was the undisputed king of Chicago, ruling not only the city's gangland, but by proxy, the city's corrupt municipal government as well. A criminal who built an empire flouting the despised Prohibition laws, Capone was popular among ordinary Chicagoans. But with the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre, when his henchmen brutally murdered seven bootleggers in a Chicago garage, Capone became "Public Enemy No. 1." Overrun by gang violence, the city was in need of federal intervention--and a new hero. They found him in a young, straight-arrow federal agent named Eliot Ness--a scrupulously honest man in the most crooked city in the country.
A man of unimpeachable integrity eager to uphold the law, the twenty-seven-year-old FBI agent quickly made a name for himself--and an enemy among the local mob--conducting a series of raids and arrests around Chicago. When he was promoted to head the newly formed "Capone Squad"--the legendary band of agents known as The Untouchables--Ness set his sights on catching the biggest fish of them all.
As they tell the interlocking stories of two fascinating American icons, Max Allan Collins and A. Brad Schwartz offer not only a gripping crime read, but a probing examination of 1930s America, and two very different conceptions of the "American Dream."
Scarface and the Untouchable includes a black-and-white photo insert featuring twenty-five images.
Synopsis
The definitive history of Al Capone, Eliot Ness's Untouchables, and gangster-era Chicago - a landmark magnum opus on America's great crime epic that reads like a thriller
A CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
"REVOLUTIONIZES OUR UNDERSTANDING OF AL CAPONE AND ELIOT NESS." -- Matthew Pearl - "GRIPPING. READS LIKE A NOVEL." -- Chicago magazine - "AN EXTRAORDINARY ACHIEVEMENT." -- Sara Paretsky
In 1929, thirty-year-old gangster Al Capone ruled both Chicago's underworld and its corrupt government. To a public who scorned Prohibition, "Scarface" became a local hero and national celebrity. But after the brutal St. Valentine's Day Massacre transformed Capone into "Public Enemy Number One," the federal government found an unlikely new hero in a twenty-seven-year-old Prohibition agent named Eliot Ness. Chosen to head the legendary law enforcement team known as "The Untouchables," Ness set his sights on crippling Capone's criminal empire.
Today, no underworld figure is more iconic than Al Capone and no lawman as renowned as Eliot Ness. Yet in 2016 the Chicago Tribune wrote, "Al Capone still awaits the biographer who can fully untangle, and balance, the complexities of his life," while revisionist historians have continued to misrepresent Ness and his remarkable career.
Enter Max Allan Collins and A. Brad Schwartz, a unique and vibrant writing team combining the narrative skill of a master novelist with the scholarly rigor of a trained historian. Collins is the New York Times bestselling author of the gangster classic Road to Perdition. Schwartz is a rising-star historian whose work anticipated the fake-news phenomenon.
Scarface and the Untouchable draws upon decades of primary source research--including the personal papers of Ness and his associates, newly released federal files, and long-forgotten crime magazines containing interviews with the gangsters and G-men themselves. Collins and Schwartz have recaptured a bygone bullet-ridden era while uncovering the previously unrevealed truth behind Scarface's downfall. Together they have crafted the definitive work on Capone, Ness, and the battle for Chicago.
Synopsis
The definitive history of gangster-era Chicago--a landmark work that is as riveting as a thriller
A CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
"REVOLUTIONIZES OUR UNDERSTANDING OF AL CAPONE AND ELIOT NESS." -- Matthew Pearl - "GRIPPING. READS LIKE A NOVEL." -- Chicago magazine - "AN EXTRAORDINARY ACHIEVEMENT." -- Sara Paretsky - "ESSENTIAL. THE TELLING IS SO EXPERTYLY DONE, IT'S HARD TO RESIST." -- Seattle Times - "A VERY GOOD BOOK. READS WITH FORCE AND STYLE." -- Chicago Tribune - "A DEFINITIVE ACCOUNT. MASTERFULLY WRITTEN." -- CrimeReads
In 1929, thirty-year-old gangster Al Capone ruled both Chicago's underworld and its corrupt government. To a public who scorned Prohibition, "Scarface" became a local hero and national celebrity. But after the brutal St. Valentine's Day Massacre transformed Capone into "Public Enemy Number One," the federal government found an unlikely new hero in a twenty-seven-year-old Prohibition agent named Eliot Ness. Chosen to head the legendary law enforcement team known as "The Untouchables," Ness set his sights on crippling Capone's criminal empire.
Today, no underworld figure is more iconic than Al Capone and no lawman as renowned as Eliot Ness. Yet in 2016 the Chicago Tribune wrote, "Al Capone still awaits the biographer who can fully untangle, and balance, the complexities of his life," while revisionist historians have continued to misrepresent Ness and his remarkable career.
Enter Max Allan Collins and A. Brad Schwartz, a unique and vibrant writing team combining the narrative skill of a master novelist with the scholarly rigor of a trained historian. Collins is the New York Times bestselling author of the gangster classic Road to Perdition. Schwartz is a rising-star historian whose work anticipated the fake-news phenomenon.
Scarface and the Untouchable draws upon decades of primary source research--including the personal papers of Ness and his associates, newly released federal files, and long-forgotten crime magazines containing interviews with the gangsters and G-men themselves. Collins and Schwartz have recaptured a bygone bullet-ridden era while uncovering the previously unrevealed truth behind Scarface's downfall. Together they have crafted the definitive work on Capone, Ness, and the battle for Chicago.
Synopsis
A CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
"REVOLUTIONIZES OUR UNDERSTANDING OF AL CAPONE AND ELIOT NESS." -- Matthew Pearl - "GRIPPING. READS LIKE A NOVEL." -- Chicago magazine - "AN EXTRAORDINARY ACHIEVEMENT." -- Sara Paretsky - "ESSENTIAL. THE TELLING IS SO EXPERTYLY DONE, IT'S HARD TO RESIST." -- Seattle Times - "A VERY GOOD BOOK. READS WITH FORCE AND STYLE." -- Chicago Tribune - "A DEFINITIVE ACCOUNT. MASTERFULLY WRITTEN." -- CrimeReads
Includes 115 photographs and a map of gangland Chicago.
In 1929, thirty-year-old gangster Al Capone ruled both Chicago's underworld and its corrupt government. To a public who scorned Prohibition, "Scarface" became a local hero and national celebrity. But after the brutal St. Valentine's Day Massacre transformed Capone into "Public Enemy Number One," the federal government found an unlikely new hero in a twenty-seven-year-old Prohibition agent named Eliot Ness. Chosen to head the legendary law enforcement team known as "The Untouchables," Ness set his sights on crippling Capone's criminal empire.
Today, no underworld figure is more iconic than Al Capone and no lawman as renowned as Eliot Ness. Yet in 2016 the Chicago Tribune wrote, "Al Capone still awaits the biographer who can fully untangle, and balance, the complexities of his life," while revisionist historians have continued to misrepresent Ness and his remarkable career.
Enter Max Allan Collins and A. Brad Schwartz, a unique and vibrant writing team combining the narrative skill of a master novelist with the scholarly rigor of a trained historian. Collins is the New York Times bestselling author of the gangster classic Road to Perdition. Schwartz is a rising-star historian whose work anticipated the fake-news phenomenon.
Scarface and the Untouchable draws upon decades of primary source research--including the personal papers of Ness and his associates, newly released federal files, and long-forgotten crime magazines containing interviews with the gangsters and G-men themselves. Collins and Schwartz have recaptured a bygone bullet-ridden era while uncovering the previously unrevealed truth behind Scarface's downfall. Together they have crafted the definitive work on Capone, Ness, and the battle for Chicago.
Synopsis
The new definitive history of gangster-era Chicago-a landmark work that is as riveting as a thriller
A CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
"An extraordinary achievement. The writing is riveting, the research impeccable." --Sara Paretsky
"Gripping. ... Reads like a novel." --Chicago magazine
"Revolutionizes our understanding of Al Capone and Eliot Ness." --Matthew Pearl
Includes 115 photographs and a map of gangland Chicago.
In 1929, thirty-year-old gangster Al Capone ruled both Chicago's underworld and its corrupt government. To a public who scorned Prohibition, "Scarface" became a local hero and national celebrity. But after the brutal St. Valentine's Day Massacre transformed Capone into "Public Enemy Number One," the federal government found an unlikely new hero in a twenty-seven-year-old Prohibition agent named Eliot Ness. Chosen to head the legendary law enforcement team known as "The Untouchables," Ness set his sights on crippling Capone's criminal empire.
Today, no underworld figure is more iconic than Al Capone and no lawman as renowned as Eliot Ness. Yet in 2016 the Chicago Tribune wrote, "Al Capone still awaits the biographer who can fully untangle, and balance, the complexities of his life," while revisionist historians have continued to misrepresent Ness and his remarkable career.
Enter Max Allan Collins and A. Brad Schwartz, a unique and vibrant writing team combining the narrative skill of a master novelist with the scholarly rigor of a trained historian. Collins is the New York Times bestselling author of the gangster classic Road to Perdition. Schwartz is a rising-star historian whose work anticipated the fake-news phenomenon.
Scarface and the Untouchable draws upon decades of primary source research--including the personal papers of Ness and his associates, newly released federal files, and long-forgotten crime magazines containing interviews with the gangsters and G-men themselves. Collins and Schwartz have recaptured a bygone bullet-ridden era while uncovering the previously unrevealed truth behind Scarface's downfall. Together they have crafted the definitive work on Capone, Ness, and the battle for Chicago.
Synopsis
The new definitive history of gangster-era Chicago-a landmark work that is as riveting as a thriller.
A Chicago Public Library Best Book of the Year
"Gripping. ... Reads like a novel." --Chicago
"Revolutionizes our understanding of Al Capone and Eliot Ness. --Matthew Pearl
In 1929, thirty-year-old gangster Al Capone ruled both Chicago's underworld and its corrupt government. To a public who scorned Prohibition, Scarface became a local hero and national celebrity. But after the brutal St. Valentine's Day Massacre transformed Capone into Public Enemy Number One, the federal government found an unlikely new hero in a twenty-seven-year-old Prohibition agent named Eliot Ness. Chosen to head the legendary law enforcement team known as The Untouchables, Ness set his sights on crippling Capone's criminal empire.
Today, no underworld figure is more iconic than Al Capone and no lawman as renowned as Eliot Ness. Yet in 2016 the Chicago Tribune wrote, Al Capone still awaits the biographer who can fully untangle, and balance, the complexities of his life, while revisionist historians have continued to misrepresent Ness and his remarkable career.
Enter Max Allan Collins and A. Brad Schwartz, a unique and vibrant writing team combining the narrative skill of a master novelist with the scholarly rigor of a trained historian. Collins is the New York Times bestselling author of the gangster classic Road to Perdition. Schwartz is a rising-star historian whose work anticipated the fake-news phenomenon.
Scarface and the Untouchable draws upon decades of primary source research--including the personal papers of Ness and his associates, newly released federal files, and long-forgotten crime magazines containing interviews with the gangsters and G-men themselves. Collins and Schwartz have recaptured a bygone bullet-ridden era while uncovering the previously unrevealed truth behind Scarface's downfall. Together they have crafted the definitive work on Capone, Ness, and the battle for Chicago.
Includes 115 photographs and a map of gangland Chicago.