Big Bankroll

Product Description

Arnold Rothstein (18821928) was described in the newspapers of the 1920s as a sportsman " "a gambler " & "the man who fixed the 1919 World Series. " But he was much more than that. A bootlegger & labor racketeer he corrupted politicians promoted crooked stock sales & imported narcotics. & perhaps most importantly he transformed organized crime from a thuggish activity practiced by hoodlums into a big business run like a corporation with himself at the top. For twenty years the name of Arnold Rothstein symbolized moneybig-time money gambling money racket money illegal money millions upon millions of dollars. His share was ninety percent of any deal; he was never indicted for a single crime; he always won at cards & horses. & despite his involvement in dozens of murders & hundreds of other crimes his luck never ran out. At least not until 1928 the year in which he was fatally shot. The perpetratorsand Rothsteins millionswere never found. The Big Bankroll is the definitive biography of the man known simply as Mr. Big. In it Leo Katcher reveals not only sordid details of the life of Americas most powerful gambler but illuminates the whole era in which crime became king."