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- ISBN13: 9780253221100
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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While researching a book on Depression-era outlaws, Playboy editor William J. Helmer stumbled upon a 600-page manuscript on John Dillinger. Written in the 1930s by G. Russell Girardin but never published, Dillinger: The Untold Story is a captivating and revealing account of Dillinger's life and crimes, based in part on information given to Girardin by the outlaw's lawyer, Louis Piquett, shortly after Dillinger's death. Though a series of articles written by Girardin and Piquett appeared in various newspapers at the time, the manuscript continued to yellow on the shelf for half a century until Helmer met Girardin and agreed to help get it published. This anniversary edition is filled with more illustrations and new information from FBI files and other sources, making it a rich and authentic slice of American history and a feast for true crime buffs.
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Reviews:
Top notch book...but
Very well crafted. Has the feel of the era throughout. Lots of research. Hard to put down. Loved it and recommend it. (I have the 1994 edition and can't speak for the new expanded edition. I just re-read it due to the Johnny Depp hoopla happening now). It flows like good fiction.
I'm also a fan of Robert Nash's "Dillinger Dossier" if your looking for more J.D. literature.He takes the story to a whole new level.
You're hard pressed to find a better Dillinger bio
Most of this book was written in 1935 after extensive interviews with Dillinger's lawyer Louis Piquett and Art O'Leary, Piquett's guy friday who became a gopher for the gang. Some of the story was sold as an installment piece that ran in a newspaper for a number of months.
Because most everyone in the underworld who played a part in Dillinger's story was still alive in 1935, the truth behind his escape from Crown Point and the facts leading up to his killing were changed to protect the author, G. Russell Girardin. The interviews turned into a manuscript and for various reasons it was never published. Fast foward fifty-five years. Girardin, now pushing 90, was found by author and Public Enemy historian William J. Helmer, and the manuscript "rediscovered". All underworld participants and dirty cops are dead so the truth about the parts that they played in the Dillinger saga can now be told.
Because of O'Leary's connections with Dillinger, as well as Van Meter, Nelson and others, we actually get to hear the desperados themselves speak as O'Leary relays what he was told during his interactions with them. So we not only get first hand accounts of bank jobs, killngs and escapes, [instead of rehashings from newspapers], we also get to see the day to day lives of these hoodlums. What went on during plastic surgeries, robbery planning sessions, payoffs etc. Things that could only be revealed by someone on the inside.
Midwestern Must Read
This is Dillinger, from early childhood through his notorious days. The book captures everything you'd expect from a biography and gives the gangster enthusiasts enough mouth-watering drama. I love the timelines! Being from the midwest, I recognized many of the towns he targeted so this is a must read for fellow midwesterners and highly recommended for everyone else!
The Real Deal on John Dillinger
In my opinion, one of the best and most underrated books written to date about John Dillinger. I picked up a copy by chance several years ago, not expecting much, and was soon totally engrossed. I feel that most of the contents are accurate (and certainly never before revealed in any published accounts I ever read) and I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in the Dillinger saga.
Lets remember, the guy was a criminal
The authors seem to have forgotten the basics behind Dillinger, the guy was a cold blooded killer and thief...okay granted, a colorful and charming killer and thief, but a lowlife just the same. Instead, what we seem to get a glowing reivew of Dillingers life in crime, killing innocent cops who were doing their jobs and taking hard earned cash away from people who worked long and hard to make it and save it....in the depression.
