Al Capone Author:Mary Letts Chicago in the 1920's - no bars, no gambling dens, no "booze" - by law. For this was the amazing era of Prohibition, when alcohol was outlawed throughout the entire USA. Thirsty America, spurning the soda shops, turned to the bootlegger for help. — It was largely out of this that Al Capone, immigrant, bootlegger extraordinary, murderer, built his... more » vast empire of crime. "Kill or be killed" was the creed of gangdom, and Capone stuck to it to the letter, until he was "mayor, governor and machine boss all rolled into one".« less