Description
Book Synopsis''This American system of ours,'' observed Al Capone, ''call it Americanism, call it capitalism, call it what you like, gives to each and every one of us a great opportunity if we can only seize it with both hands and make the most of it.'' Capone spoke as a member of a generation who, seizing the opportunities offered by the Eighteenth Amendment of the US Constitution, which prohibited the manufacture, transport, or sale of alcoholic beverages, enriched himself and laid the basis for modern organized crime in America. Yet if the story of the eminent gangsters is not the orthodox, rags-to-riches American success story, neither can it be dismissed as merely a crime story, a morality play where evil doers are brought to justice by the forces of law and order. Their story, rather, is a central and significant chapter in the social and economic history of modern America.
Table of ContentsChapter 1 Introduction: A New World Chapter 2 Chapter 1. Italian Crime Comes to America: Stoppaglieri and New Orleans Chapter 3 Chapter 2. New York: Spoilsmen and Reformers Chapter 4 Chapter 3. Italian Crime in America: Mano Nera, Camorra, and Mafia Chapter 5 Chapter 4. Expanding Immigration: Chicago and the Levee Chapter 6 Chapter 5. Prohibition: The New Gold Rush Chapter 7 Chapter 6. Prohibition in Chicago: Johnnie Torrio, Al Capone, and the Beer War Chapter 8 Chapter 7: The Underworld at War: Part 1 - From the Fall of the Gennas to the Aiello Uprising Chapter 9 Chapter 8. The Underworld at War: Part 2 - Many Cities: From the St. Valentine's Day Massacre to the Castellammarrese War Chapter 10 Chapter 9. The Underworld at War: Part 3 - New York Chapter 11 Chapter 10. The Underworld at War: Part 4 - The Endgame Chapter 12 Chapter 11. The Fall Chapter 13 Conclusion: Why Do We Need Organized Crime Anyway? Chapter 14 Notes Chapter 15 Index
