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&“An engrossing look inside Al Capone's murderous ranks.&” &–Kirkus Almost before the gunsmoke from the St. Valentine's Day Massacre cleared, Chicago police had a suspect: &“Machine Gun&” Jack McGurn. They just couldn't find him. But two weeks later police found McGurn and his paramour, Louise May Rolfe, holed up at the Stevens Hotel. Both claimed they were in bed on the morning of the shootings, a titillating alibi that grabbed the public's attention and never let go. Chicago Valentines is one of the most outrageous stories of the Capone era, a twin biography of a couple who defined the extremes and excesses of the Prohibition era in America. McGurn was a prizefighter, professiona...
On November 14, 1957, state troopers raided an estate in Apalachin, New York, and arrested 59 affluent men, with nearly as many more escaping through the surrounding woods. The next morning's headlines hailed the gathering as a summit meeting of organized crime, alerting America to the reality of a national Mafia whose existence had been hotly debated. This first in-depth study of that historic meeting chronicles how it changed the course of American history by inspiring federal legislation to crack down on labor racketeering; forcing drastic policy revisions within the U.S. Department of Justice; and prompting charges of criminal fraud in one of America's most heatedly contested presidential elections. By explaining the context and consequences of the raid, this volume establishes the gathering at Apalachin as a pivotal event in the history of syndicated crime and of the government's response to the Mafia.
A comprehensive study of the US Supreme Court that explores the transformation of constitutional law from 1930 to 1941.
The high times, the rubouts, the payoffs -- they're all here in Wayne Klatt's account of the Windy City's wildest years. The entire country -- the world -- was shocked and entertained by what went on in Chicago during Prohibition. Learn how it all happened, from a step-by-step speakeasy set-up to the White Sox scandal to the St. Valentine's Day Massacre. Pull back the gauzy curtains of the gaudy era when Al Capone contributed to Mayor William Thompson's campaign and Governor Len Small used gangsters to fix his embezzlement trial. After studying every day of the Toddlin' Town's stint in Prohibition, author Wayne Klatt shows how bootleg gangs came into power and demolishes the myth of a North Side-South Side rivalry.
Giant fiberglass wieners atop a hotdog stand. Wild green parrots that live in the city. A double-decker outhouse. A museum dedicated to surgical science. Statues that weep. Find out where these and other eclectic sites are located in Oddball Illinois, an offbeat travel guide that's a mix of Fodors and News of the Weird. There is more between Chicago and St. Louis than cornfields and plenty of fascinating places in the Windy City that aren't on Michigan Avenue. Oddball Illinois won't point out the hottest club in Chicago, the quaintest small-town bed & breakfast, nor the most scenic hiking trail in Illinois. This book will, however, tell about the locations of America's One and Only Hippie Memorial, Scarlett O'Hara's green drapes, Popeye's Hometown, and several places the local Chambers of Commerce would just as soon be forgotten. Behind all the odd sights is some wonderfully interesting history and a chance to see some underappreciated sites throughout the state.
Celebrating her successes and coping with life's challenges, A Life Well Lived Through Words is an account of a woman's lifelong struggle with love, relationships, geopolitical issues, lawyering, and disease. Sharon Greenspan has always looked to poetry and writing to find her peace. She writes about her life as an immigration attorney, both in private practice and for the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, her relationship with her daughter Samantha, her challenging loves, and her battle with chronic fatigue syndrome. She weaves a story of a life well lived through words. "Greenspan's poems are poignant at times, at other times whimsical, almost fey. She has organized her work well and included both intimate thoughts about her relationships, grander themes such as 9-11, and the foundation of the state of Israel. Taken together, they tell her stories with verve and charm." -The US Review of Books
Who will inherit control of America's best-known family businesses? Jan Pottker profiles the young heirs who've taken charge or are being groomed for leadership of prominent family companies. Here is a fascinating analysis of companies and the families that gave them birth--spiced with intriguing insights and little-known anecdotes culled from interviews with the heirs.
The Hughes Court: From Progressivism to Pluralism, 1930 to 1941 describes the closing of one era in constitutional jurisprudence and the opening of another. This comprehensive study of the Supreme Court from 1930 to 1941 – when Charles Evans Hughes was Chief Justice – shows how nearly all justices, even the most conservative, accepted the broad premises of a Progressive theory of government and the Constitution. The Progressive view gradually increased its hold throughout the decade, but at its end, interest group pluralism began to influence the law. By 1941, constitutional and public law was discernibly different from what it had been in 1930, but there was no sharp or instantaneous Constitutional Revolution in 1937 despite claims to the contrary. This study supports its conclusions by examining the Court's work in constitutional law, administrative law, the law of justiciability, civil rights and civil liberties, and statutory interpretation.