Scottsdale Public Library

Displaying 1 of 1

The ghosts of Eden Park : the bootleg king, the women who pursued him, and the murder that shocked jazz-age America

2019

Número de clasificación:	364.133209 ABBOTT
Formato:	Book
Autor:	Kahler, Abbott, 1973-
Título:	The ghosts of Eden Park : the bootleg king, the women who pursued him, and the murder that shocked jazz-age America / Karen Abbott.
Edición:	First edition.
Editorial, Fecha:	New York : Crown, [2019] ©2019
Descripción:	xviii, 405 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm
Resumen:	"The epic true crime story of bootlegger George Remus and the murder that shocked the nation, from the New York Times bestselling author of Sin in the Second City and Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy. In the early days of Prohibition, long before Al Capone became a household name, a German immigrant named George Remus quits practicing law and starts trafficking whiskey. Within two years he's a multi-millionaire. The press calls him "King of the Bootleggers," writing breathless stories about the Gatsby-esque events he and his glamorous second wife, Imogene, host at their Cincinnati mansion, with party favors ranging from diamond jewelry for the men to brand-new Pontiacs for the women. By the summer of 1921, Remus owns 35 percent of all the liquor in the United States. Pioneering prosecutor Mabel Walker Willebrandt is determined to bring him down. Willebrandt's bosses at the U.S. Attorney's office hired her right out of law school, assuming she'd pose no real threat to the cozy relationship they maintain with Remus. Eager to prove them wrong, she dispatches her best investigator, Franklin Dodge, to look into his empire. It's a decision with deadly consequences: with Remus behind bars, Franklin and Imogene begin an affair and plot to ruin him, sparking a bitter feud that soon reaches the highest levels of government--and that can only end in murder. Combining deep historical research with novelistic flair, The Ghosts of Eden Park is the unforgettable, stranger-than-fiction story of a rags-to-riches entrepreneur and a long-forgotten heroine, of the excesses and absurdities of the Jazz Age, and of the infinite human capacity to deceive"-- Provided by publisher.
Temas:	Remus, George, 1878-1952 -- Trials, litigation, etc. Trials (Murder) -- Ohio -- Cincinnati -- History -- 20th century. Uxoricide -- Law and legislation -- Ohio -- Cincinnati -- History -- 20th century. Alcohol trafficking -- United States -- Biography. True crime stories. United States -- Social conditions -- 1918-1932.
Notas:	$28.00 Includes bibliographical references (pages [325]-328) and index.
LCCN:	2019016196
ISBN:	9780451498625 9780451498625
Disponibilidad en sistema:	5
N.º de artículos del sistema en:	5
Reservas vigentes:	0

Expand All | Collapse All

Disponibilidad

Sugerencias y más

Imagen de portada ampliada

Reseñas de publicaciones especializadas

Análisis de diario de la biblioteca

Abbott (Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy) chronicles the involvement of several vivid Jazz Age figures in a famed scandal and courtroom trial. George Remus, "King of the Bootleggers," was a German immigrant who practiced law before turning to bootlegging. He began a fateful affair with his legal secretary, Augusta Imogene Holmes, in 1920. The two occupied center stage in Cincinnati, enjoying the perks of their considerable windfall; they were known for lighting cigars with $100 bills. Remus was adept at using his knowledge of the legal system to sidestep the Volstead Act, until his hubris got the better of him and an earnest U.S. Assistant Attorney General, Mabel Walker Willebrandt, nailed him for numerous violations. Willebrandt's protégé, Franklin Dodge, encountered Remus during this two-year stint in a penitentiary while working undercover. Dodge resigned and embarked on an affair with Imogene, dissolving her husband's assets and plotting his demise. But Remus gets there first, leading to his trial for Imogene's murder; bits of testimony are interspersed throughout. VERDICT Abbot keeps up the momentum and suspense while giving her substantial characters their due. Recommended for fans of historical true crime, such as Mary Cummings's Saving Sin City; fans of HBO's Boardwalk Empire will also devour this juicy read.--Barrie Olmstead, Lewiston P.L., ID

Análisis semanal de editoriales

Bestseller Abbott (Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War) revives an obscure cause célèbre in this engrossing true crime narrative. Relying heavily on primary sources, including trial transcripts, Abbott asserts in an author's note that she "accurately depict detailed scenes and entire conversations and reveal characters' thoughts, gestures, personalities, and histories." That approach pays off from the start with a dramatic prologue set in 1927, in which a man's pursuit of a woman in Cincinnati's Eden Park ends with a gunshot. The reader later learns that they are George Remus, an attorney turned bootlegger, and his wife, Imogene. Prohibition, which became law in 1920, provided Remus with a golden opportunity to capitalize on the nation's thirst for alcohol. Corrupt government officials at the highest levels of the Justice Department abetted his illegal schemes in exchange for bribes. The book's hero is pioneering prosecutor Mabel Willebrandt, the U.S. assistant attorney general in charge of enforcing the Volstead Act, who was able to convict Remus in 1922 for violating the act. After Remus completed his sentence, frictions between him and Imogene led to her murder; that crime set the stage for an extraordinary trial in which Remus both represented himself--and asserted that he should be found not guilty of murder by reason of insanity. This real-life page-turner will appeal to fans of Erik Larson. Agent: Simon Lipskar, Writers House. (Aug.)

Resumen

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * The epic true crime story of the most successful bootlegger in American history and the murder that shocked the nation, from the New York Times bestselling author of Sin in the Second City and Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy

"Gatsby-era noir at its best."--Erik Larson

An ID Book Club Selection * NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST HISTORY BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY SMITHSONIAN

In the early days of Prohibition, long before Al Capone became a household name, a German immigrant named George Remus quits practicing law and starts trafficking whiskey. Within two years he's a multi-millionaire. The press calls him "King of the Bootleggers," writing breathless stories about the Gatsby-esque events he and his glamorous second wife, Imogene, host at their Cincinnati mansion, with party favors ranging from diamond jewelry for the men to brand-new cars for the women. By the summer of 1921, Remus owns 35 percent of all the liquor in the United States.

Pioneering prosecutor Mabel Walker Willebrandt is determined to bring him down. Willebrandt's bosses at the Justice Department hired her right out of law school, assuming she'd pose no real threat to the cozy relationship they maintain with Remus. Eager to prove them wrong, she dispatches her best investigator, Franklin Dodge, to look into his empire. It's a decision with deadly consequences. With the fledgling FBI on the case, Remus is quickly imprisoned for violating the Volstead Act. Her husband behind bars, Imogene begins an affair with Dodge. Together, they plot to ruin Remus, sparking a bitter feud that soon reaches the highest levels of government--and that can only end in murder.

Combining deep historical research with novelistic flair, The Ghosts of Eden Park is the unforgettable, stranger-than-fiction story of a rags-to-riches entrepreneur and a long-forgotten heroine, of the excesses and absurdities of the Jazz Age, and of the infinite human capacity to deceive.

Praise for The Ghosts of Eden Park

"An exhaustively researched, hugely entertaining work of popular history that . . . exhumes a colorful crew of once-celebrated characters and restores them to full-blooded life. . . . [Abbott's] métier is narrative nonfiction and--as this vibrant, enormously readable book makes clear--she is one of the masters of the art." -- The Wall Street Journal

"Satisfyingly sensational and thoroughly researched." -- The Columbus Dispatch

"Absorbing . . . a Prohibition-era page-turner." -- Chicago Tribune

Tabla de contenido

	Author's Note	p. xv
	Prologue: Reckoning, 1927	p. xvii
Part I	The Pursued and the Pursuing
	All the Rope He Wants	p. 3
	Testimony of Marie Remus	p. 10
	The Circle	p. 11
	Life has Few Petted Darlings	p. 18
	Testimony of A. W. Brockway	p. 27
	Daddy	p. 29
	Mabelmen	p. 35
	Testimony of Carlos Clapper	p. 42
	A Man's Home Is His Castle	p. 43
	Tear the Heart Out of Washington	p. 50
	Testimony of Emanuel Kessler	p. 59
	A Terrible, Terrible Scream	p. 60
	Testimony of Emmett Kirgin	p. 65
	A Middle Finger of Unusual Prominence	p. 66
	Dynamite	p. 76
	Testimony of Henry Spilker	p. 82
	The Brainstorms	p. 84
	Testimony of George L. Winkler	p. 91
	The Wielders of the Soap	p. 92
	The Ace of Investigators	p. 97
	Testimony of Frieda Schneider	p. 100
	Vigor and Vim Unexcelled	p. 101
	Testimony of Olive Weber Long	p. 108
	A Disturbance in Room 902	p. 110
	Catalyst	p. 116
	Testimony of Oscar Ernie Melvin	p. 125
Part II	Careless People
	A Bolt from the Blue	p. 129
	Testimony of Orin Weber	p. 137
	Not Mrs. Remus Any Longer	p. 138
	That Social Pervert, That Social Leper, That Social Parasite	p. 146
	Testimony of John S. Berger	p. 155
	None the Worse for It	p. 156
	A Pearl-Handled Revolver	p. 164
	Testimony of Julia F. Brown	p. 171
	A Ghost at the Door	p. 173
	Testimony of Imogene Remus	p. 180
	Don't Let Him Catch You Asleep	p. 181
	Testimony of George Conners	p. 186
	No Quarter	p. 188
	Testimony of William Hoefft	p. 195
	The Hitman	p. 196
	Testimony of Ethel Bachman	p. 200
	Blood on the Primrose Path	p. 201
	Testimony of Ruth Remus	p. 206
	What a Beautiful Morning It Is	p. 207
Part III	The Colossal Vitality of his Illusion
	The Smiling Charlie Taft	p. 217
	Remus's Brain Exploded	p. 224
	The Loosest Kind of a Tongue	p. 234
	High-Class Gentlemen	p. 238
	Alienist No. 1	p. 246
	Conspiracies	p. 250
	Alienist No. 2	p. 253
	A Blank About Everything That Happened	p. 255
	Alienist No. 3	p. 260
	The Arch-Conspirator of All Ages	p. 262
	Déjà Vu in Price Hill	p. 267
	Sun in Scorpio	p. 278
	Very Emotional, Somewhat Unstable	p. 282
	American Justice	p. 290
	Probate Court Testimony of George Remus	p. 300
	The Unfortunate Woman	p. 302
	A Hammer to the Angels	p. 309
	Acknowledgments	p. 321
	Bibliography	p. 325
	Notes	p. 329
	Index	p. 387

Pantalla de bibliotecario

Información sobre series

Títulos similares

Series similares

Resumen

Reseñas de lectores

Displaying 1 of 1