In this classic history of crime, the author of The Gangs of New York tells how Chicago's underworld earned
- and kept - its reputation. Recounting the lives of such notorious denizens as the original Mickey Finn, the mass
murderer H.H. Holmes, and the three Car Barn Bandits, Asbury reveals life as it was lived in the criminal districts
of the Levee, Hell's Half-Acre, the Bad Lands, Little Cheyenne, Custom House Place, and the Black Hole. His description
of Chicago's infamous red light district - where the brothels boasted opulence unheard of before or since - vividly
captures the wicked splendor that was Chicago. The Gangs of Chicago spans from the time "Slab Town" was
settled to Prohibition days. The story of Chicago's golden age of crime climaxes with a dramatic account of the
careers of the "biggest of the Big Shots": Big Jim Colosimo, Terrible Johnny Torrio, and the elusive
Al Capone.