Scarface and the Untouchable

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Readeras part of a quick takes/catch up post —emphasizing pithiness, not thoroughness.
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There is a lot of de-mythologizing in this history of Capone and Ness—not just of some of the myths that surrounded them during the 1920s and 30s—but of many of the “de-mythologizing” works that have been written about them since. According to Collins and Schwartz, both men—especially Ness—have been the victim of so much revisionist history that it's almost impossible to really get at what these two did and were like.

Still, the authors think they've got it—or at least closer to it than others due to their research methods, etc. Hopefully, they have—I don't know. They did tell a pair of compelling stories about Capone, Ness, and how they both rose to notoriety—and kept it.

I do think a text version of this would work a little better—I had a hard time tracking some of the not-as-important names/dates/events. It could be me, and probably is. I don't think it was Stefan Rudnicki's fault at all—he did a great job with the work (and it was nice to hear him doing something other than Alex Bledsoe novels).