Vintage Chicago

If you’re on a journey to learn about all things related to the underbelly of Chicago’s historic and storied crime landscape, then you should consider the following books to get you up to speed and behind the scenes:Historic Photos of Chicago Crime: The Capone Era (John Russick) is a 200-page coffee table style book that contains photographs taken with the press cameras of the period and showcases bloody cadavers, gun toting hoodlums, getaway cars, courtroom shots, funerals, and beer busts. Reviewers of the book call it a “must have” if you are a gangster/Chicago history buff.Return to the Scene of the Crime: A Guide to Infamous Places in Chicago (Richard Lindberg) has been called the “standard reference book on Chicago’s most notorious crime scenes” and weaves a combination of architecture, history, and true crime in the 471 page paperback. If you live in Chicago or plan on visiting the area, this is a great resource to take you to the exact spot where history was made.Family Secrets: The Case That Cripples the Chicago Mob (Jeff Coen) dissects one of the most pivotal mob criminal prosecutions, the Family Secrets case, in this shocking book on self-destructive Cosa Nostra members engaged in a death dance of suspicion and betrayal. One reviewer wrote that “this book is the best I’ve read about the Chicago mob in decades” and covers a more-current mob mentality considering the trial took place in 2007.The Gangs of Chicago: An Informal History of the Chicago Underworld (Herbert Asbury) is considered the “most detailed, reliable, and readable account of the nether side of Chicago’s first century, deserves reading and rereading….” One reviewer of the book called it “seedy and wonderful,” which seems synonymous with the subject matter!Scarface Al and the Crime Crusaders: Chicago’s Private War Against Capone (Dennis E. Hoffman) is the author’s dissection of what he calls a “private war” against Capone as he traces behind-the-scene activities that imply that the citizens of Chicago had more to do with Capone’s demise than the often credited Eliot Ness. Touted as recommended reading for the “true crime scholar” it is considered a “great addition to your shelf of accurate books.”