Review: Boardwalk Empire by Nelson Johnson

I won’t say too much about Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic Citybecause I’m interviewing author Nelson Johnson on Thursday, and he’s a key figure in an article I’m writing.

What I will say, though, is that if you ever wanted to understand political corruption and how these guys seem to get away with it, this is the book to read.

It’s also a long history of Atlantic City, which I write about in my other life.
Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City also inspired the upcoming HBO series Boardwalk Empire, staring Steve Buscemi and directed by Martin Scorsese. That series starts on the day prohibition was enacted. The book Boardwalk Empire takes a much longer view, from the island’s beginnings up until 2002.

Here’s a preview:

It premiers in September, and It’ll be something. Can’t wait. You can read more about the book here.

Also – shout out to South Jersey. This book was published by Plexus Publishing, who I wrote about a zillion years ago when I first started freelancing. Ok, I wrote about them in 2002 (I think). Not a zillion years ago, but that’s the same year this book came out. Go figure.