THE LEGACY OF AL CAPONE

by George Murray ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 17, 1975

A former Hearst reporter has assembled with greater pains than interest a long dossier on the men before, during and after the regime of The Big Fellow who may not have had a conscience but did have a large heart and a gregarious spirit. With no particularly developed sense of chronology or for that matter human interest, Murray goes back and forth with the various men who figured (Lou Greenberg, ""the richest son of a bitch in hell""; Dion O'Banion whose death marked the beginning of the gang wars; Father Pat Molloy, ""Friend of the Friendless"" -- every hoodlum and killer). He also traces the nexus of the empire from bootlegging, bookmaking, prostitution to labor unions, tailor shops and laundries, concessions of all kinds, theatres and ultimately politics where even in the '60's Barry Goldwater appeared in chummy camaraderie with gangster Willie Bioff. Capone's ""legacy,"" cf. the title, is the loss of honest indignation that made all this possible in America then and now: a true feefdom of payoffs, deals and eliminations. One also reads all about it without any of that ""honest indignation"" -- some of which must be blamed on Murray as well as Capone.

Pub Date: March 17, 1975

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Putnam

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1975

Categories: NONFICTION