Al Capone Chapter Summary

Going off thousands of pages of newly discovered documents from the governments wiretaps, transcripts, and Al capons personal hand written letters. Bestselling author Jonathan Eig tells the dramatic story of the rise and fall of the United States most notorious criminal mastermind Al Capone. It talks about his life, the attempts for catching him, And Al Capone’s most devastating crime that shook the world.

From the moment he set foot in Chicago in 1920, Al Capone found himself in a limitless amount of opportunities. He was impetuous, affable, good looking young man of average intelligence and was not very prepared for fame and fortune. He Started off life quitting school at age 14 to work odd jobs around Brooklyn (before he moved to Chicago) his life would all change once he met a man named Johnny torrio who later was regarded Al Capone’s mentor in the gangster life. Once moving to Chicago Within a couple years Capone controlled an illegal bootlegging business with annual revenue that rivaled some of the nation’s largest cooperation’s. He also corrupted the Chicago police and local courts while still becoming an international celebrity.
While this was all going on president Herbert Hoover demanded that they brought Capone to justice.
But yet Capone and his army of lawyers were “untouchable” and were making a mockery of federal law. But it was the little known agents who risked their lives to get their man. But they could not even touch Al Capone because his gang had become his family and would do anything to protect the beloved “father”. They planted as many wire taps, undercover men and took anything they could get their hands on that would help, but yet
nothing.

Al Capone’s most infamous crime was the St. Valentine’s Day massacre when Capone instructed his men on how to get rid of seven rival bootleggers during the prohibition era. Which Capone insisted he didn’t commit. And when he left court and someone asked him if he was a bootlegger he would answer "Sure and some of our best judges use my stuff”. This made the federal agents even angrier. But there was nothing they could do he was now literally untouchable. But there was one thing that was eventually a lethal weapon they could use against him….taxes. And every big business man had to pay taxes and Capone’s yearly income in 1929 was said to be around 105,000,000. He was eventually tracked down and was given 23 charges of tax evasion from 1923-1929. He was sent to Alcatraz for 11 years then after his sentence he moved to Palm Springs Florida where he died on January 25, 1947 at age 49.

Get Capone explores every aspect of the man they call “Scarface”, who was more complex than meets the eye and damaged by his ego as much as his vicious criminality. He was much more than criminal he understood how people work, what they want, what they would pay for. He once said "Public service is my motto. Ninety percent of the people of Cook County drink and gamble and my offense has been to furnish them with those amusements. My booze has been good and my games on the square." He also said whenever he was put on trial for something "Every time a boy falls off a tricycle, every time a black cat has gray kittens, every time someone stubs a toe, every time there's a murder or a fire or the marines land in Nicaragua, the police and the newspapers holler 'get Capone.' “This is the real Al Capone.