Customer Reviews

Capone: The Life and World of Al Capone

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In a book subtitled, "The Life and World of Al Capone", one would suspect an in depth look at the famous Chicagoan. While the book has points where it is very informative, I believe the author could have used a more involved editor in composing his book. Having originally gone into publication in 1971, there are better books about Al Capone.

In the first hundred pages, Al Capone's name is literally mentioned only about five times. I respect the author's motive for formatting the book this way. He was trying to set up the world that gave rise to a gang leader like Al Capone. However, some of the stories could have been left out. At times, I found myself wondering if the author would ever start discussing Capone.

The author begins the story of Capone in his service to Johnny Torrio. Eventually, this relationship develops more into a partnership than a hierarchy. Capone was very aggressive in furthering his interests even if the price was murder. La Cosa Nostra and organized crime in America thrived under the laws of prohibition. The illegally produced and supplied alcohol was only produced by those willing to disobey the way. It was a chance Capone was to take. Additionally, Capone made his money from gambling and racketeering.

The generous side of Capone is one that is less frequently discussed. He donated much of his wealth to the poor which is more than can be said for the contemporary crooks and gangsters of corporate America. With this comparison in mind, it seems odd that the government finally crumbled the Capone empire with charges of tax evasion. Capone was sentenced to eleven years, but served less than six due to good behavior and the terminal phase of syphilis.

I was disappointed to discover the end of the book. The author followed through with the title in the beginning with an overwhelming introduction. Unfortunately, the author chose to describe Capone's effect on the world in seven pages. I believe the author could have said more of the world of Al Capone more in terms of his after effects.

In total, I found this book to be more than adequate. While it is flawed and inconsistent, it is a worthwhile primer for those seeking to learn of Capone. At times, the author goes into great detail demonstrating the work put into this project. However, the amount of work is not always consistent with the final project.

In my opinion, this is the best and most well written of all of the Capone biographies. The first few pages of this highly engrossing book takes the reader to the front door of the Lexington Hotel, Capone's headquarters.....on into the inner sactum of the gangleader himself. The story of Al Capone is brilliantly laid out in an easy to follow format that takes the reader through Capone's life and motivations. I've read all of the major bios on "Big Al" and this is by far the best.....highly recommended.

This is perhaps the most readable of the major Capone biographies, but it isn't the most complete. The book was first published in 1971, and I suspect the author did not have access to government archives that subsequently have been released to the public. CAPONE gives you the sweep of the man's criminal career and covers all the major events, but there's more to his story. Start with this book for a good overview, then read Schoenberg and Bergreen for more in-depth coverage.

"The Life and Time of Al Capone", this is really a book with two souls.

I liked the first part of the book a lot. This is the part devoted to the time of Al Capone, starting in his childhood, detailing the life of immigrants like his father, the very small word they were allowed to live in, the reasons why young men saw the gangs as the only way to get a living and to do something with their life... if they lived long enough, that it.
The way gangs were organized is detailed quite in depth, the Italians gangs, but also the others. The way gangs fought each other, the reason why they did it. It's like a little world on its own, with its own rules and its own heroes, and its own enemies. This part, detailing the history of the Five Pointers, where Capone started his life as an outlaw, was the more interesting for me.

I also like the part that followed. Capone arrives in Chicago as a young man and here he finds a world which is both the same, but also different from the underworld he knew in New York. A big chunk of the book is spent detailing how Chicago was divided into zones, how different ethnic gangs controlled different parts of the city, the alliances and the enmities. The bosses and their temperaments. The gangs were nearly always linked to ethnic communities and it was interesting to see what links and what bonds stood between these men and the communities they came from. It was a very complex relationship and it was very interesting reading about it.

Then the second part of the book tells Capone's life in particular... and my interest dropped.

Honestly, reading only this book, one will wonder what made Capone one of the better known men in America. He's presented here as a very violent man, with few interests other than make money through bootlegging, brothels and other illegal activities. It is said that he was a skilful manager, but nothing is provided to enforce this idea. There's a long section detailing the way he killed off all his rivals, which is quite repetitive, with no insight into what he was after, his tactic, even his reasons.
A very long part is devoted to the trial that put him in jail and the following (quite uneventful) years in Alcatraz, I suspect because this is probably one of the better documented part of his life, if maybe the least interesting. It was - honestly - quite boring.

This is the only book I read about Capone and I still know very little about him, so I wonder whether there might be more interesting books about him out there. But I did enjoy the first part about the Twenties underworld quite a lot.

I think Kolbler does a good job of detailing the rise of the Mafia. Italians calling themselves the Black Hand rob and blackmail guilable Italian immigrants. People like Colossimo, and Capone get into the protection busiess. This leads to other rackets, and the Mafia is born. Capone was not a member of the Mafia group, but he knew their main leaders. Capone and before that Torrio become the main influences in the Chicago underworld.

This is a detailed biography of Alphonse Capone. The book also shows the corrupt nature of early Chicago politics and the start of Prohibition. Capone because of his leadership qualities and friendship with Torrio becomes a effective leader of the Chicago underworld. Al used whatever he needed to establish his rule. This included blackmail, torture, and murder. He also was generous to those who were loyal to him. There was both a good and dark side to Al Capone. If you betrayed him, then he could beat you to death like the three Sicilians. If you treated him as an equal, he could help and befriend you.

Kobler shows all the complexities of Al Capone, He may have evil traits, but a very real human came through in Kobler's biography. This is a very detailed, but also very readable history of Al Capone.

I got this for my nephew, he's into ganster stories. He likes the book, he was interested more about Al Capone and Chicago history.

John Kobler is a little-known master craftsman and this is his master work. Don't miss it. Quite possibly the best biography you'll ever read. P.S. PLUS, I learned the word "chinoiserie" from this book!