The Man Who Got Capone

by Frank Spiering

The story of Treasury agent, Frank Wilson, a quiet meticulous man, who managed to find a weak link in the chain of armor that was Al Capone and his organization. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0672522314
• ISBN13: 9780672522314
• Release Date: January 1976
• Publisher: Bobbs-Merrill
• Length: 231 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.

Customer Reviews

"Whatever else they may say,my booze has been good,and my games have been on the square.Public servi

"On July 29,the eve of his return to Judge Wilkerson's court,Capone,clad in white-bordered silk pajamas,chatted companionably with reporters in his Lexington Hotel suite. Regarding his imprisonment,Capone,posing as a marter,mused:"I've been made an issue,and I'm not complaining.But why don't they go after all these bankers who took the savings of thousands of poor people and lost them in bank failures? How about that? Isn't it lots worse to take the last few dollars some small family had saved--perhaps to live on while the head of the family is out of a job--than to sell a little beer,a little alky?" Without a doubt, Al Capone was the most popular, as well as the most notorious gangster in America ,during the 20th Century. In this excellent book,Frank Spiering has done a wonderful job of detailing the income tax violations and investigations that resulted in Capone's demise. Everyone who knows anything at all about Capone;knows about Eliot Ness and the Untouchables, who fought the battles in the streets,clubs and breweries.The raids and whatnot have been described over and over again in books and movies and embellished so much it is virtually impossible to separate fact from legend and even outlandish fiction.The gun battles ,particularly those showing Ness gunning down gangsters with a Tommy Gun fill countless scenes.If the truth be known ,apparently the only time(s) Ness actually used a firearm was to blast open a padlock on the doors of an illicit brewery or warehouse.Be that as it may ,it made for great TV and Movies.Recently ,and still going on is the re-playing of the TV Series of the Untouchables starring Robert Stack as Ness.There were 124 ,1-Hour episodes in the series and the quality was excellent with a host of excellent actors involved.The Series is currently being run on Book Television in Canada at 4 PM and Midnight ,every day. However,in this book we see the work that was carried out by Frank Wilson and his Government Agents who did all the diligent investigation into the "business" side of Capone's operations,and the sources and expenditures of vast amounts of money.This was painstaking work and what was used to bring Capone to trial and eventually led to his conviction and sentencing to prison. The book is probably pretty factual and shows a side to the life and downfall of Capone that we don't often hear much about. There is also a very good Bibliography at the end. Certainly a book that should be read by anyone who wants to know about who and how Capone was brought to justice.