Chicago To Springfield:: Crime And Politics In The 1920s (images Of America Series)
by Jim Ridings /
2010 / English / EPUB
18.1 MB Download
The story of Chicago gangsters in the 1920s is legendary. Less
talked about is the tale of the politicians who allowed those
gangsters to thrive. During the heyday of organized crime in the
Prohibition era, Chicago mayor "Big Bill" Thompson and Gov. Len
Small were the two most powerful political figures in Illinois.
Thompson campaigned on making Chicago "a wide open town" for
bootleggers. Small sold thousands of pardons and paroles to
criminals, embezzled $1 million, and was then acquitted after
mobsters bribed the jury. This book is the story of those Jazz Age
politicians whose careers in government thrived on and endorsed
corruption and racketeering, from Chicago to Springfield. It
complements author Jim Ridings's groundbreaking biography, Len
Small: Governors and Gangsters, which was praised by critics and
situated Ridings as a trailblazer among Chicago crime authors.
The story of Chicago gangsters in the 1920s is legendary. Less
talked about is the tale of the politicians who allowed those
gangsters to thrive. During the heyday of organized crime in the
Prohibition era, Chicago mayor "Big Bill" Thompson and Gov. Len
Small were the two most powerful political figures in Illinois.
Thompson campaigned on making Chicago "a wide open town" for
bootleggers. Small sold thousands of pardons and paroles to
criminals, embezzled $1 million, and was then acquitted after
mobsters bribed the jury. This book is the story of those Jazz Age
politicians whose careers in government thrived on and endorsed
corruption and racketeering, from Chicago to Springfield. It
complements author Jim Ridings's groundbreaking biography, Len
Small: Governors and Gangsters, which was praised by critics and
situated Ridings as a trailblazer among Chicago crime authors.