Product Description

Meticulously combining previously scattered accounts with abundant fresh research, AFTER CAPONE provides a comprehensive and arousing portrait of underworld boss Frank Nitti and his gang's far-reaching power emanating from Chicago in the 1930s. The last word on the life of the cunning mob boss, his life experiences, the people around him, and organized crime in Chicago after Al Capone, this in-depth analysis, based on many years of research and supported by original sources from state and federal archives, is the definitive reference on Nitti's violent life and times.

AFTER CAPONE traces Nitti (born Francesco Raffele Nitto—his name was misspelled on early bond and arrest warrants, and the press always seemed to pen him as "Frank Nitti") from his Italian origins and entry and rise in Chicago's underworld mob to his near-fatal shooting by city detectives, his strange death, and the ultimate downfall of those associated with him. In addition to dispelling popular notions as that Nitti followed Capone to Chicago and was Scarface's cousin, author Mars Eghigian provides an all-encompassing view of Nitti's criminal activities, which stretched farther beyond Chicago than those of any other organized crime family until that time.

Following Capone's incarceration and his eventual release from prison on income tax charges, Nitti was the driving force that expanded the Chicago mob's operations. Moving away from the illegal booze that was the gang's mainstay during Prohibition, he led the mob into the legitimate distribution of alcohol after repeal, labor union racketeering, and attempts to control illicit gambling from coast to coast.

AFTER CAPONE is the first book to present the complete, never-before-told story of one of America's leading crime kingpins. A fascinating and chilling account of mob power, it stands as proof that sometimes fact is indeed stranger than fiction.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #279911 in Books
• Published on: 2006-02-13
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 528 pages

About the Author
MARS EGHIGIAN JR. is a veteran organized-crime researcher who has extensively examined archives in Chicago, St. Louis, Washington, D.C., and numerous institutions from Iowa to Texas. He has contributed to several published works on Chicago's gangster era and has spoken extensively on gangs and gang members. A former college educator, he currently works in employment development and lives in Belleville, Illinois.

Customer Reviews

A good study of a criminal empire
In a meticulously researched book, Mars Eghigian, Jr delivers far more than his title "After Capone" promises.

Without repeating what other reviewers have covered, the following are the areas in which I learned the most from the book.

1) The status of Chicago before Capone and Torrio. The setting of the political battles of "The Bloody Nineteenth," where Italians and Irish struggled for political dominance, using violence reminiscent of politics in Sicily. Political murders set the table for the violence of the Beer Wars of Prohibition.

2) The economics of organized crime. The end of Prohibition created a major economic problem, similar to that faced by any large business structure which loses significant market share, except that downsizing by layoffs present a major challenge when disgruntled employees can do more than file for unemployment compensation.

3) The structure and practice of labor racketeering as practiced by Nitti's Outfit, far-ranging into Hollywood unions, among others, including shakedowns of the major film studios.

If Al Capone contended that he only provided a service people wanted to buy, Nitti's Outfit imposed a tax on unwilling union members and consumers, as the Outfit learned quickly to take advantage of the Wagner Labor Relations Act, turning procedures designed to protect union members from their bosses into tools of corruption that took the government many years to learn to counterbalance.

Finally, corruption and tax investigations closed in on the Outfit, Nitti essentially faced a rebellion by his closest subordinates and was told to "take the heat" as Al Capone had. The next day, age 57, Nitti committed suicide.

More than a biography of a man, this book provides an understanding of a criminal enterprise from its Prohibition beginnings through its transformation into "The Outfit."

The real Frank Nitto.
This is a very well written and acurate account of Frank Nitto. Nitto is either typecast in movies or ignored in most accounts but Mr. Eghigian Jr. shows that he was in fact a major player in the Capone gang and the gang leader after Capone. This is a must read for those seeking the real Frank Nitto.

All you need to know about the real Nitti
Mars Eghigian tirelessly did his research on this one and it shows. Nitti wasn't "the Enforcer" the press had bestowed on him. He was very trustworthy, but personally lacked the violence needed to balance the brainy part in organized crime. He had no problem delegating that part. Learn about his true origins, his family, wives and son. Eghigian dispells many rumors and halftruths concerning the man who was Al's choice to substitute him whenever he was away.
I really enjoyed learning new unknown facts about Nitti. This book has helped my website shine even more.

Mario Gomes
myalcaponemuseum