Mob Fest '29 Debunks Myth Of Organized Crime Summit In Atlantic City In 1929

I read the ebook Mob Fest '29 a few weeks ago and today I interviewed the author, Bill Tonelli.

Byliner, the ebook's publisher, offers the below:

In this brilliantly subversive work, Bill Tonelli investigates the long-standing myth of the mob’s founding—a legendary week in May 1929 in which a who’s who of American crime, led by Al Capone, are said to have assembled in Atlantic City, New Jersey, to make peace and divvy up the country’s illegal enterprises. But what really happened that criminally star-studded week? Tonelli sifts the facts from the malarkey, and in so doing reveals how and why the cops, the mobsters, and the writers who love them prefer not to get their stories straight. Mob Fest ’29 combines the thrills of a mostly true crime story with the madcap scholarship of a savvy Mafia investigator.

Tonelli, like me, was born and raised in South Philadelphia. He went on to become a noted editor and writer.

He's written about organized crime for Philadelphia magazine, the New York Times and Slate. He has also worked as an editor at Esquire, Rolling Stone and Conde Nast Portfolio. He is the editor of The Italian American Reader and the author of The Amazing Story of the Tonelli Family.

I enjoyed reading Mob Fest '29 and I enjoyed interviewing Bill Tonelli. I'll post my Q & A with him here in the coming weeks.

You can purchase a copy of the ebook Mob Fest '29 via the below link:

http://www.amazon.com/Mob-Fest-29-Organized-ebook/dp/B0093PYEA0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1353122902&sr=8-1&keywords=mob+fest+%2729

Note: The above photo of Bill Tonelli was taken by Willie Tonelli.

Nucky Johnson Made An Empire Out Of Crime In Atlantic City

David J. Krajicek wrote an interesting piece for the New York Daily News about Nucky Johnson, the political boss of Atlantic City during prohibition.

The HBO series Boardwalk Empire is based on Nucky Johnson.

Nucky Johnson licked his chops the day the knuckleheads banned booze in America. It was a gift to Atlantic City, transforming it from Philadelphia's sandbox to "The World's Playground."

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2011/08/14/2011-08-14_nuckys_empire_crime_king_of_atlantic_city.html

Boardwalk Empire: Atlantic City Still Haunted by Nucky Johnson

George Anastasia, the veteran crime reporter for The Philadelphia Inquirer, wrote an interesting piece about how Enoch "Nucky" Johnson still haunts Atlantic City.

Nucky Thompson, the character in HBO's Boardwalk Empire, is based on Johnson. Johnson was the political boss of Atlantic City.

You can read Anastasia's piece via the below link:

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20101010_Atlantic_City_still_haunted_by_Nucky.html?viewAll=y