Beithíoch : The Life and World of Chicago Gangster Frank McErlane - Volume I

by Daniel Waugh

"Old time criminal and bootlegger. Acquitted of two murders and accused of many others. Reputed to be the most violent criminal in Chicago." With those brief words, the Chicago Crime Commission managed to accurately sum up South Side gang boss Frank McErlane. Familiar to most crime buffs as an exceptionally violent supporting character in Al Capone biographies, McErlane was the most feared gangster in Chicago. Beithíoch is the first full-length biography of the man who introduced the Thompson submachine gun to the city that made it world-famous and popularized the so-called "one-way ride."

Driven by personal demons and often fueled by alcohol, McErlane cut a ferocious swath through the South Side underworld that absolutely no one was safe from. In addition to telling Frank McErlane's story for the first time, Beithíoch provides a fresh look at the ostensibly familiar terrain of Prohibition-era Chicago. The careers of gang bosses such as Joe Soltis, Spike O'Donnell, and Danny Stanton are examined in great detail. In a story that spans the Midwest and stretches to the shores of California, Beithíoch is the groundbreaking tale of an incredibly brutal gangster who wrote his name in blood across the annals of American criminal history.

464 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 10, 2021

Reviews

[SkipO · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the absolutely best books (and I have read many!)
about the beer wars in 1920s Chicago.
Mr Waugh is very detailed but not all boring in his telling of it.
Excellent!!!