Charlie and the Shawneetown Dame, based on a true story, recounts
one of the most famous turf wars waged during that national madness
called Prohibition. Charlie Birger's outsized ambitions brought him
from New York to Southern Illinois in search of fortune as a
big-time bootlegger. He soon found that his dream to be "even
bigger than Al Capone" faced a few hurdles - including the Ku Klux
Klan; the vicious Shelton Brothers of East St. Louis; and Helen
Holbrook, a beautiful, alcoholic socialite from Shawneetown, whose
simultaneous affairs with Birger and Carl Shelton led to the
escalation of an already bloody and bizarre gang war. Donald Bain
vividly captures turbulent Southern Illinois during the Roaring
Twenties, and deftly chronicles Birger's journey from charismatic
leader with delusions of grandeur to beleaguered general in the
harsh reality of hand-to-hand combat, to his demise as a dupe of a
far cleverer enemy. Ultimately done in by the ""Shawneetown Dame;""
by his own inflated ego; and by a sly sheriff named Pritchard, who
conned Charlie into jail, allowing the area's most famous gangster
to bring his sub-machine gun into the cell with him - Charlie and
his story are a fascinating piece of Americana - crude, violent,
yet often humorous. Charlie and the Shawneetown Dame grandly
testifies that truth indeed can be stranger than fiction.
General
| Imprint: |
Purdue University Press
|
| Country of origin: |
United States |
| Release date: |
October 2004 |
| First published: |
November 2004 |
| Authors: |
Donald Bain
|
| Dimensions: |
229 x 152 x 19mm (L x W x T) |
| Format: |
Paperback
|
| Pages: |
268 |
| ISBN-13: |
978-1-55753-375-3 |
| Categories: |
Books >
Fiction >
Genre fiction >
Crime & mystery >
General
Promotions
|
| LSN: |
1-55753-375-X |
| Barcode: |
9781557533753 |
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