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Eliot Ness: The Real Story

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Paul W. Heimel has done a superb job of uncovering and relating the life and times of Eliot Ness, including the role that he and his team of "Untouchables" played in the destruction of Al Capone. Ness was a far more interesting and complex individual than the Hollywood characterizations of him. He was every bit as honest, diligent, and hard-working as his fictional counterpart, but also flawed in terribly human ways. The reader comes away with a deeper understanding of a very real, ultimately tragic human being. Heimel knows how to tell a story well and captures Ness's fascinating life without bogging the tale down in minutia. He provides clear images of Capone and a host of other characters, including FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover. The paranoid, delusional "G Man" was a neurotic tyrant who could not stomach Ness getting any publicity or credit, no matter how deserved, because he believed it upstaged him and his agency. Ness even merited one of Hoover's many secret files. Indeed, Ness seems to have been harmed by his own success in destroying crooked cops, politicians, and labor thugs, which inevitably made him enemies. His own inability to convert his exemplary public service into business or political success reveals him as all-too human. His final years, and the lack of any material reward for his deeds, are both moving and tragic. This is a real slice of Americana without any glamorization. Heimel deserves our gratitude for rescuing a wonderful man from both near-obscurity and horrible distortion.

Heimel's first book was good, this one was excellent. Even if you're not a crime-fighing history buff, this chronology of Ness' life strikes an optimistic cord concerning what ultimately matters in life. Ness made plenty of mistakes in his life, but the testimony to man's efforts at doing the right thing is inspirational. He was not the person Hollywood portrayed him to be, but in some sense, he was much, much, more. This second edition is full of new information and insight. Just as you may find that the "professional" movie critics reviews didn't jibe with how you felt about a movie, you'll most likely come to the same conclusion about this book. Read it yourself. It's well worth the effort!

Eliot Ness was a legendary lawman in the twenties and thirties. But entertaining as they are, the various Untouchables movies and television shows don't paint an accurate picture of him.

And The Untouchables (by Ness and Oscar Fraley) and Four Against the Mob (by Fraley) tell part of the story, but leave a lot of detail out, including just about any unflattering pieces.

Heimel's book is the first true attempt at an unbiased look at Ness' life. And have no doubt, Eliot Ness did some amazing things in law enforcement. His time as Cleveland's Public Safety Director is more episode-filled than his Chicago days. As of 2003, there is not a better book out there on Eliot Ness.

I am familiar with the efforts the author made to compile this significant title and I would recommend it to anyone who has an interest in Eliot Ness, the man. He was a significant American crimefighter. Sad to see that he died under such difficult circumstances, never knowing he would become a legend. A very good read! Well done!

If you are looking for an accurate and interesting book about Eliot Ness, this book is definitely for you. As I was reading this book, it was obvious that Paul Heimel researched Eliot Ness's life in depth. Fact and fiction were separated to get an honest look at Ness's life. Also, I didn't feel that he used any exaggerations and he fairly portrayed Ness. He gave Ness credit for his accomplishments and didn't "sugar-coat" Ness's failures. Ness's human side was captured in the book. Thumbs-up to the author Paul Heimel.

Fascinating book. Heimel unveils an Eliot Ness that no one has ever heard of. The real Eliot Ness was much more captivating, if less cartoonish, than the myth. Quickly paced and well researched, it was a pleasure to read. I learned a tremendous amount about the man and about the creation of myth that pretends to be history

The story of Eliot Ness and his Untouchables is a fascinating saga of American culture, and Paul Heimel does a wonderful job of writing an intriguing, swiftly moving story. He's an excellent writer, and what is particularly noteworthy is the fact that he interviewed so many people who knew Eliot Ness. Unfortunately, he also includes verbatim conversation between his characters (since he wasn't there how did he know what they said?) and even quotes what the long-dead people were thinking! Researchers will wish that an index was included in the book, and the bibliography could have been improved with titles in italics, quotation marks around articles, and page numbers included where appropriate. Still, the book is a great read, and it will surely be enjoyed by all interested in the Gangster Era.

Eliot Ness is the true story of how a young Prohibition agentsuddenly founds himself thrust into the midst of Chicago's gangland asthe director of a special team with a daring mission: cut off the economic lifeblood of Al Capone's criminal empire by destroying his breweries. When Ness and his investigators turned down bribes, the are aptly labeled the "Untouchables" by a newspaper columnist. After Chicago, Ness continued to bring the same aggressive style of law enforcement to Cleveland, where crooked cops had allowed organized crime to flourish. Ness zeroed in on the gambling dens, prostitution houses, and extortion rings that have taken over the city. Ness cleaned up Cleveland and then turned his attention to federal service and the business world. Eliot Ness is a biography based on more than three years of interviews, investigation, and exhaustive research. After his career was ended, his experiences were published under the title "The Untouchables", and eventually became a very popular television series. But the television series bore scant relation to the true story of Eliot Ness, for example, in his entire campaign against Al Capone, Ness never in a gunfight, never had to raise and fire his gun against another human being. Eliot Ness is a splendid biography and will be of intense interest to anyone interested in the life and times of a remarkable federal law enforcement officer during one of the country's most turbulent and lawless times.

I usually can't get through biographies, but Heimel really knows how to tell a smart, well-researched gripping story. I heartily recommend this book, and will be giving it as a gift to all my biography-friendly friends!

This has to be the definitive book on the subject of legendary crimefighter Eliot Ness. It's quite a story and is obviously well researched and written with an exacting and engaging style. If being the leader of THE UNTOUCHABLES alone, was enough excitement and fame for someone like Ness. He goes on to tackle other crime and even get into business ventures that prooved to be far ahead of their time.

Eliot Ness never lived to see his story portrayed on TV or the movies.
Shortly before his death, he did receive a $1,000 advance from his book titled THE UNTOUCHABLES co-written by his sportswriter friend Oscar Fraley. That was the only money the honest lawman ever got from his fame as the G-Man who took on gangster Al Capone. And long before Hollywood was playing with the truth or simply taking poetic license. Ness or more precisely Fraley, had built up the gangbusting exploits to almost the same level of American hero mythology as Wyatt Earp. Actor Robert Stack who to millions the world over was Eliot Ness, could always be seen each week shooting it out with the bad guys. Whereas the real Ness, only fired his gun once to gain entry to an illegal brewery by shooting the lock off. In 1959, at a time when there were already 48 TV westerns on the air, ABC's Desilu produced show THE UNTOUCHABLES was really a western itself. The most violent show on television and naturally it was highly rated.

Just like in a typical Hollywood western, when the good towns people hire a lawman to rid their streets of crime and then finding that he's done such a good job that business starts to suffer. Well thats what happens to Ness when this book chronicles his career in Cleveland. Not as skilled at dealing with politicians as he was with crooks (that is if there is a difference), his life goes into decline and becomes an American tragedy.
Author Paul Heimel remembers him well though and indeed the true story of Eliot Ness warrants a more respectful Hollywood tribute than just the rattle of "tommy-guns" shooting up a still.