Name: Chicago Shakedown
Brand: John F. Hogan
SKU: 9781467139519
Price: 23.99 USD
Availability: InStock

Chicago Shakedown

9781467139519

$23.99

The Ogden Gas Affair represented the biggest political scandal of Chicago's first sixty years. Mayor John P. Hopkins and Democratic Party boss Roger Sullivan conspired with ten other insiders to form a dummy corporation to blackmail Peoples Gas Company. The scam poured money into the coffers of beneficiaries who were never prosecuted, including the governor of Illinois, John P. Altgeld. As their lengthy swindle ran its course, Hopkins and Sullivan rubbed elbows with the most notorious grafters of the robber baron era, including Charles Yerkes and Big Bill Thompson. Author John Hogan follows the money in a scheme that became a template for the enrichment of the connected at the expense of the citizenry.

Cover image for Chicago Shakedown, isbn: 9781467139519

Chicago to Springfield

9780738583730

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

The story of Chicago gangsters in the 1920s is legendary. Less talked about is the tale of the politicians who allowed those gangsters to thrive. During the heyday of organized crime in the Prohibition era, Chicago mayor "Big Bill" Thompson and Gov. Len Small were the two most powerful political figures in Illinois. Thompson campaigned on making Chicago "a wide open town" for bootleggers. Small sold thousands of pardons and paroles to criminals, embezzled $1 million, and was then acquitted after mobsters bribed the jury. This book is the story of those Jazz Age politicians whose careers in government thrived on and endorsed corruption and racketeering, from Chicago to Springfield. It complements author Jim Ridings's groundbreaking biography, Len Small: Governors and Gangsters, which was praised by critics and situated Ridings as a trailblazer among Chicago crime authors.

Book cover Chicago to Springfield Crime and Politics in the 1920s featuring a sepia photograph of a crowd with flags

Conspiracy to Riot

9781948742689

$26.00

This memoir by one of the famed Chicago Seven “chronicles the moments from [his] life that forged him as someone willing to jump atop cars with a bullhorn” (South Side Weekly).

In March 1969, eight young men were indicted by the federal government for conspiracy to incite a riot at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. First dubbed the “Conspiracy 8” and later the “Chicago 7,” the group included firebrands like Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, and Bobby Seale. But it also included a little-known community activist and social worker from the South Side of Chicago named Lee Weiner, who was just as surprised as the rest of the country when his name was included in the indictment. The ensuing trial became a media sensation, and it changed Weiner’s life forever.

An irreverent, freewheeling memoir of an indelible moment in history—which Kirkus Reviews calls “a welcome addition to the library of the countercultural 1960s left”—Conspiracy to Riot is startlingly relevant to today’s polarized political climate, reflecting on the power of activism to create a better, more just world and offering a blueprint for making it happen.

Conspiracy to Riot

9781953368225

$16.95

A memoir of a life in activism by one of the original defendants in the Trial of the Chicago 7, subject of the 2020 Oscar-nominated Aaron Sorkin film of the same name.

In March 1969, eight young men were indicted by the federal government for conspiracy to incite a riot at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. First dubbed the Conspiracy 8 and later the Chicago 7, the group included firebrands like Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, and Bobby Seale. But it also included a little-known community activist and social worker from the South Side of Chicago named Lee Weiner, who was just as surprised as the rest of the country when his name was included in the indictment. The ensuing trial of the Chicago 7 became a media sensation, and it changed Weiner's life forever. In this irreverent, freewheeling memoir of an indelible moment in history--which Kirkus Reviews called a welcome addition to the library of the countercultural 1960s left--Conspiracy to Riot shows how a commitment to your ideals can change your destiny forever.

With startling relevance to today's polarized political climate, Conspiracy to Riot is a book for anyone who hopes for a better, more just world, and offers a blueprint for how to make it happen.

Cover image for Conspiracy to Riot, isbn: 9781953368225

Crooked Politics in Northwest Indiana

9781467136426

$21.99

Defined by a tangled web of deception for more than a century, Northwest Indiana's political culture involved secret handshakes, tapped phone calls, backroom deals and murder.

Found submerged in his car with a rock on the gas pedal, city official Babe Lopez's execution-style murder rocked East Chicago. Shot and killed at a political fundraiser, power broker Jay Given's murder occurred while four hundred guests mingled in a neighboring room. Former Lake Station mayor Keith Soderquist stole thousands of dollars from his reelection campaign and the city's food pantry account to gamble at local casinos. Author Jerry Davich explores the hidden political scandals and highly publicized court cases of public servants once sworn to serve and protect.

Cover of Crooked Politics in Northwest Indiana featuring a collage of politicians against a patriotic red and blue background.

The Iowa Caucus

9781467115834

$24.99

For more than 40 years, Iowa has held the first-in-the-nation presidential caucuses. A vibrant political culture has emerged as a result of this role, and Iowa voters have a unique opportunity to get to know the nation's presidential candidates as they travel the state, attend small-group meetings, and hone their messages. Candidates come to Iowa—where retail politics is the name of the game—early and often. But the campaign trail in Iowa isn't just about candidates. It's about average Americans in small-town diners, church basements, and high school gyms. In an age of public cynicism about politics, the Iowa caucuses continue to demonstrate the importance of real people talking about issues with would-be presidents.