Guns and Roses: The Untold Story of Dean O'Banion, Chicago's Big Shot Before Al Capone
by Rose Keefe

My own book- did you think I would leave it out? Many of the sources I used during my O'Banion research provided additional leads and information for my Moran bio.

Below are some of the books that I found to be invaluable research tools, great sources of interview prospects, and/or plain old entertaining reading. Should these books still be available, I've included a direct link to their Amazon.com listing (click on the cover).

The Case Against Lucky Luciano
By Ellen Poulsen
240 Pages
Available through Amazon.com

The author of Don't Call Us Molls has released a well-written, thoroughly researched account of the 1936 vice trial that exposed New York City's fraudulent bonding system and the women that it controlled.

The Complete Public Enemy Alamanc
By William J. Helmer and Rick Mattix
669 Pages
Available through Amazon.com

Two of the nation's foremost crime historians have pooled their resources and come up with an indispensible tool for the serious researcher as well as the armchair enthusiast. Bill and Rick were kind enough to let me write the forward.

After Capone
the Life and World of Chicago Mob Boss Frank 'the Enforcer' Nitti
By Mars Eghigian, Jr
464 Pages Hardcover (March 2006)
Can be ordered online through the publisher at www.cumberlandhouse.com

This long-anticipated biography of Al Capone's shadowy successor is highly recommended. Well-written and thoroughly researched, After Capone is not only the story of Frank Nitti, but organized crime in its ascendancy.

 

The St. Valentine's Day Massacre
the Untold Story of the Gangland Bloodbath that Brought Down Al Capone
By William J. Helmer and Art Bilek
6 3/8" x 9 1/4", 356 Pages Hardcover
Can be ordered online through the publisher at www.cumberlandhouse.com

WILLIAM J. HELMER is the author of The Gun That Made the Twenties Roar and coauthor of Dillinger: The Untold Story and Baby Face Nelson. He lives in Maquoketa, Iowa. ARTHUR J. BILEK was chief of the Cook County Sheriff's Police, a member of the Chicago Crime Commission, and a professor at Loyola University. He lives in Evanston, Illinois.

The Chicago Outfit by John Binder
For a signed author copy, please send $23 ($20 cover price plus S&H for US addresses) to:
John Binder
1422 N. Monroe
River Forest, IL 60305

John Binder was the president of the Merry Gangsters Literary Society and the historical advisor on the A&E biography "Al Capone" and the History Channel's "The St. Valentine's Day Massacre"

Capone: The Life and World of Al Capone
by John Kobler
432 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.13 x 9.06 x 6.00

Kobler's book was the first in-depth Capone bio to appear since Fred Pasley's 1930 work Capone. It provided the springboard for the plethora of Capone and Chicago gangster studies that appeared during the 30 years since its publication. Although subsequent research has since contradicted many of Kobler's findings, this book is a must for the shelf of any serious student of the Chicago Outfit.

 

Mr. Capone
by Robert Schoenberg
504 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.27 x 9.22 x 6.13

"Building and expanding upon the solid foundation previously laid by Pasley and Kobler and correcting old errors, and guided by the likes of top-notch Capone experts Mark Levell and Bill Balsamo, Schoenberg has crafted one of the best Capone biographies to date, far superior to Bergreen's ludicrous fluff...."- Rick Mattix review

I have to agree- a very worthy read.

Lake County, Illinois
by Diana Dretske
144 pages; Heritage Media Corp

An excellent pictorial history of the Lake County region, in which Moran operated extensively after the St. Valentine's Day Massacre. To obtain a copy, please contact the Lake County Discovery Museum:
Lake County History Archives
27277 Forest Preserve Drive
Wauconda, IL 60084
LCHA@co.lake.il.us
847-968-3381 (phone) 847-526-1545 (fax)

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