Baby Face Nelson: Portrait of a Public Enemy

by Steven Nickel, William J Helmer

Lester Joseph Gillis -- better known to the public and press of the 1930s as Baby Face Nelson -- was one of a succession of public enemies beginning with John Dillinger and progressing to Bonnie and Clyde, Ma Barker, Machine Gun Kelly, and Pretty Boy Floyd. For decades their stories were largely myths, containing a combination of popular folklore and carefuly crafted FBI fables. In recent years historians have generated a more factual look at the life and times of the various Depression-era desperados. Until now Baby Face Nelson has remained as enigmatic and one-dimensional as he was then, portrayed by J. Edgar Hoover and newsmen as a trigger-happy punk who looked like a choirboy and killed without a conscience. Finally the full story of his short life can be told. Using new information that comes from the formerly classified files of the FBI, the Nelson who emerges from the pages of Baby Face Portrait of a Public Enemy is a more paradoxical and interesting figure than one might expect. Obviously addicted to crime in his youth and evidently intoxicated with violence near the end of his life, he came from an ordinary, honest middle-class family. In a surprising departure from the gangster norm, Nelson and his wife remained fiercely devoted to one another, and between holdups they often lived a quiet domestic life with their two children and, at times, Nelson's mother. The main focus of this biography is on Nelson's remarkable criminal career, from sensational bank robberies and blazing gun battles up to his death at the age of twenty-five. Many misconceptions are corrected and some of the abuses of the FBI are exposed.

Genres: True Crime, History, Biography, American History, Nonfiction, Crime

480 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2002

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. Well written. If'n you're looking to learn about Lester Gillis, AKA Baby Face Nelson, this book will do you right. I had previously read books on John Dillinger, the Kansas Union Square massacre and the St. Valentine day massacre. My only regret is that I didn't read these books in succession. A lot of these guys involved were intertwined and I saw several familiar names in this book. It would've been cool to have the other books fresh to memory while reading this one. My suggestion is that if you are interested in the 1920s-1940s gangland history. Get all your books about Dillinger/Nelson/ Pretty Boy Floyd and events like Union Station or the St. Valentines massacre, then read them all. You would have a fresh memory of the characters and connections from book to book. All the books I read were good books, just wish I read them together instead of spread out over a few years. But either way I recommend Baby Face Nelson to anyone that would like to read a good book.

[Slagle Rock · Rating 3 out of 5]

When this book is on target, it hits like the best gangster movie you ever saw but when its off track, the experience is liking reading a years long soap opera. Yes, I know a ton more about Baby Face Nelson and his gang of criminal cronies, including John Dillinger and other Big Time Bad-asses, from reading this book but sometimes the going was pretty dull. In particular, this story is in large part about these guys being on the run from the law between bank jobs. You do get a sense of the minutiae of gangster life on the lam but I could have used about 150 pages less of the experience. Credit to the authors for all the research that went into this account. It’s very thorough but I wish they would have left some of the information on the cutting room floor or summarized it.

[Blake Hiatt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating look at the life of a bank robber and killer. Well worth reading.

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of all the "Public Enemies"-era outlaws, Lester "Baby Face Nelson" Gillis tends to be portrayed as the most one-dimensional: a man short in stature and a huge temper, with a lust for blood and a raging Napoleonic complex that made him an irritant to associates and a danger to everyone else. Authors Steven Nickel and William Helmer, in their introduction, claim that this was an image propagated by the FBI and furthered by John Dillinger biographers who have used Baby Face as a counterpoint to make Dillinger look better in comparison. Nickel and Helmer set out to paint a fuller picture of Baby Face and, in my estimation, succeed. This isn't a white wash. There's no doubt that Baby Face was a violent man (it would be hard to paint the person who killed more FBI agents than anyone else, ever, otherwise) but the authors challenge the contention that Baby Face was an unhinged psychopath, illustrated not only by his dedication to his family (he was a devoted husband, father, and son, whose family often accompanied him when he was on the lam) but also by the fact that it was Nelson's underworld friends and contacts that allowed the so-called "Second Dillinger Gang" to operate. Nickel and Helmer draw primarily on FBI files and newspaper articles of the day, along with information from the rare interviews Baby Face's widow gave before her death and some contributions from anonymous members of the Gillis family. My one complaint about the book is that I wish they'd source some of the statements they use in the book. Quite often, things would appear in quotes but there are no footnotes. Still, the book is a great read and is definitely recommended for those interest in Depression-era outlaws and Public Enemies.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Apart from several typos, grammatical errors and other things the editor should have found, this was a very illuminating look at Baby Face Nelson and his family, and, of course, his cohorts. I recently learned that my great-great aunt Helen was his wife, so I have some personal interest in the topic.

I am going to be reading more of these accounts. The era and the way things were back then, and the Depression, always interests me, and this book was pretty well written and held my interest well. I'd recommend it if you're interested in old-school gangsters.

[Doug McNair · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book about the gangster era of the '30s. Though its general focus is on Nelson, it's really a book about the entire Dillinger gang and how they operated. We learn that the secret of their success was careful planning and casing banks, followed by extensive travel and laying low after robberies. The author doesn't go for the popular portrayal of Nelson as a psychopath but portrays him as a more complex personality. A good read for crime buffs and people interested in Depression-era America.

[Chris Schaffer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love books about the depression era gangsters such as Dillinger, Nelson and the rest. A good, fast paced book, very enjoyable. Some tangents the authors go on were a bit annoying.