Blood, Bullets and Booze

"When we think of the Roaring 20's -- that decade of gangsters, jazz, Prohibition, and flappers -- most of us think of Chicago, Al Capone, and the St. Valentine's Day Massacre. The Windy City has become famous for its one-way-rides and violent shootouts, but author Troy Taylor presents another part of Prohibition-era Illinois that not only outgunned and outdrank Chicago but has just as many ghost stories left lingering behind from those turbulent days. Southern Illinois -- or 'Little Egypt' as some call it -- not only had just as many gangsters and just as much booze and bloodshed, but it also had aerial bombings, homemade military tanks, dirty cops, unsolved murders, attacks on hospitals, and gun battles with the Ku Klux Klan! Take a trip back in time to the days of the explosive Southern Illinois gang wars, when Charlie Birger, the Shelton Brothers, the Ku Klux Klan, and a bunch of wild card gunmen wreaked havoc, created mayhem, and carried out countless murders as they fought for control of the liquor trade. And it was all happening at the same time Al Capone was the biggest mob boss in that city by Lake Michigan. Maybe the gangs of Southern Illinois didn't wear fancy suits or drink their bootleg liquor in fancy glasses on Lake Shore Drive, but they were just as deadly as their counterparts -- maybe even more so!"--