True Crime Ink - True Crime Book Review

TRUE CRIME INK
TRUE CRIME BOOK REVIEW

The Chicago Outfit
by
John J. Binder
(Published 2003 by Arcadia Publishing,
Price 19.99, 127 pp, Illustrated, trade paperback)

I love these kind of books. Some text, all worthwhile, and a
ton of mob photos (some published for the first time). I guess
John Binder's book is sort of our generation's "X Marks the Spot".
I'm sure if Capone were around today he'd have it pulled off the stands.

"The Chicago Outfit" is just about that. The book is in 10 chapters that
cover organized crime in Chicago from "Big Jim" Colosimo to the
1990s. Each chapter begins with a brief outline than
heads straight into a photo album of gangdom.

There is some wonderful coverage of the Outfit during the 1950s
thru to the 1970s here. We've all seen a ton of photos on Capone (still
can't get enough though), so seeing these later photos was
of particular interest. There is even a gruesome shot of
Giananca laid out on the basement floor. The captions for
each of the photos are informative and to the point and
very necessary as there are many characters here who've
I've never heard of at all.

John Binder knows a lot about the Chicago Mob, he was the
historical advisor for A&E's "Capone" biography and the History
Channel's "The St. Valentine's Day Massacre", and that becomes
evident reading this book. My only compliant, I wish it were
larger! Recommended.

You can purchase this title directly from the author at:
http://www.thechicagoutfit.com/news.htm

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