Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City

Providing the inspiration and source material for the upcoming HBO series produced by Academy Award-winning director Martin Scorsese and Emmy Award-winning screenwriter Terence Winter, this riveting and wide-reaching history explores the sordid past of Atlantic City--forever a freewheeling town long-dedicated to the fast buck--from the city's heyday as a Prohibition-era mecca of lawlessness to its rebirth as a legitimate casino resort in the modern era. A colorful cast of powerful characters, led by "Commodore" Kuehnle and "Nucky" Johnson, populates this stranger-than-fiction account of corrupt politics and the toxic power structure that grew out of guile, finesse, and extortion. Atlantic City's shadowy past--through its rise, fall, and rebirth--is given new light in this revealing, and often appalling, study of legislative abuse and organized crime.