Finished Tu 4/23/13
My post on Good Reads-
A truly fascinating account of the history of Atlantic City, New Jersey from its beginning as a vermin infested health resort in the early eighteen hundreds to the 'Las Vegas of The East Coast' of today. One thing has always remained consistent, and that is that the city government and the local businesses, both legal and illegal, offered a united front to give the tourists whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted it. As one of the local residents said, "If the people who came to town had wanted Bible readings, we'd have given 'em that. But nobody ever asked for Bible readings. They wanted booze, broads, and gambling, so that's what we gave 'em.
The author structures the book around the charismatic figures that were vital to the growth of the city, and we first learn of Dr. Jonathan Pitney's vision of a health spa on a remote and desolate seaside island. And, then we are treated to a ringside seat at the wide-open 'Babylon by the Sea' of Enoch 'Nucky' Johnson's 'Roaring Twenties'. The Eisenhower Years are profiled in Frank 'Hap' Farley's 'Republicrat' leadership up until New Jersey legalized gambling in 1976, and then the community enjoyed a much needed economic boost which was engendered by the real estate wizardry of Donald Trump
The local government has always been corrupt, however it's Capitalism at its purest. Profit is all that counts, and everything else doesn't even register. The book highlights how important the railroads played in the town's development. Also, the freed slaves of the Confederacy played an essential role in the development of the tourist industry. And, I was amazed that Prohibition laws weren't even enforced. All American cities had clandesdine 'speakeasies', yet in Atlantic City, saloons operated as if the 18th Amendment never happened.
This is a book about history that is thoroughly enjoyable, and you can't help but be entertained and enlightened. I bought the book because I had seen several episodes of the HBO series, BOARDWALK EMPIRE, but the TV show covers only a very small section of the book.Link to Amazon-
http://www.amazon.com/Boardwalk-Empire-Birth-Corruption-Atlantic/dp/B0057D8VF6
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