Author(s): Jonathan Eig

True Crime

Al Capone immortalised by Al Pacino in the film Scarface was America's most wanted gangster in the prohibition era, and leader of the crime organisation, the Chicago Outfit. Capone dealt in gambling, prostitution, racketeering, casinos, and the illegal sale of liquor. Fights with many other gangs left hundreds dead, culminating in the atrocities of the St Valentines Day massacre in 1929. From President Herbert Hoover down to the US Attorney in Chicago, the word went out to get Capone'. He was not caught by Elliot Ness and his Untouchables' celebrated in Brian De Palma's film of the same name in the Bureau or Prohibition, but by government attorneys and accountants who, operating on direct orders from the President, risked their lives and compromised their ethics to get their man. In this fascinating new book, Eig uses recently discovered federal papers, wiretaps, memos, IRS records, and personal letters of Al Capone, as well as newly released government documents, to tell the real story of how Capone was brought to justice. In this vivid story of violence, corruption and blue-sky thinking, Eig tells the story of the rise and fall of one of the best-known gangsters in history. Jonathan Eig is a former writer and editor for The Wall Street Journal and is author of two highly acclaimed New York Times bestsellers.