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Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times and the Corruption of Atlantic City
Author(s): Nelson Johnson (Author)
- Publisher: Ebury Press
- Publication Date: 3 Nov. 2011
- Language: English
- Print length: 320 pages
- ISBN-10: 0091941253
- ISBN-13: 9780091941253
Book Description
Through most of the 20th century, Atlantic City, New Jersey, was controlled by a powerful partnership of local politicians and racketeers. Funded by payoffs from gambling rooms, bars and brothels, this corrupt alliance reached full bloom during the reign of Enoch 'Nucky' Johnson - the second of the three bosses to head the Republican machine that dominated city politics and society.
In Boardwalk Empire, Nucky Johnson, Louis 'the Commodore' Kuehnle, Frank 'Hap' Farley, and Atlantic City itself spring to life in all their garish splendour. Author Nelson Johnson traces 'AC' from its birth as a quiet seaside health resort, through the corruption, notorious backroom politics and power struggles, to the city's rebirth as an international entertainment and gambling mecca where anything goes.
Boardwalk Empire is the true story that inspired the epic HBO series starring Steve Buscemi, Michael Pitt and Kelly Macdonald.
'As good, if not better, than the television series' Independent
Editorial Reviews
Review
The book is full of compelling anecdotes and characters ... Nucky Johnson's description of Atlantic City is equally applicable to Nelson Johnson's book: "We have whiskey, wine, women, song, and slot machines. I won't deny it and I won't apologise for it" ―
Telegraph Published On: 2011-11-04Enthralling ... Johnson deftly straddles centuries while using nearly 20 years of research and an energetic, novelist style to bring to life the mobsters, bootleggers and bent politicians behind Atlantic City's rise and fall ―
ShortlistFascinating ―
Daily ExpressStranger, and scarier, than any fiction ―
IndependentUnfailingly gripping ―
HeraldA tough but gripping read ―
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