The First Vice Lord: Big Jim Colosemo and the Ladies of the Levee

Arthur J Bilek

ISBN 10: 1581826397 / ISBN 13: 9781581826395

Published by Turner Publishing Company, 2008

About this Item

THE FIRST VICE LORD is the story of the life and death of Big Jim Colosimo and Chicago's infamous segregated red-light district--the Levee. For the first time, the true story is told of the colorful characters who peopled the Levee from the time of the Columbian Exposition to the Roaring Twenties, clearly the most colorful period in Chicago's history. The product of five years of research through Chicago daily newspapers, magazines, and periodicals, and books on the city's history, it documents the story as it occurred, with all of the sights, sounds, and smells of that lusty, unruly era. THE FIRST VICE LORD is the story of an immigrant Italian lad who grew up in the tenements of Chicago, where he worked first as a lowly street sweeper, then as a brothel operator and vice lord, and finally as the owner of the most famous restaurant of his day. His story is told against the backdrop of an open red-light district so famous it was known to the crown heads of Europe.

Seller Inventory # CIN1581826397G

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The First Vice Lord: Big Jim Colosemo and the Ladies of the Levee
• Publisher: Turner Publishing Company
• Publication Date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1581826397
• ISBN 13: 9781581826395
• Binding: Hardback
• Condition: Good

About this title

Synopsis

THE FIRST VICE LORD is the story of the life and death of Big Jim Colosimo and Chicago's infamous segregated red-light district--the Levee. For the first time, the true story is told of the colorful characters who peopled the Levee from the time of the Columbian Exposition to the Roaring Twenties, clearly the most colorful period in Chicago's history. The product of five years of research through Chicago daily newspapers, magazines, and periodicals, and books on the city's history, it documents the story as it occurred, with all of the sights, sounds, and smells of that lusty, unruly era. THE FIRST VICE LORD is the story of an immigrant Italian lad who grew up in the tenements of Chicago, where he worked first as a lowly street sweeper, then as a brothel operator and vice lord, and finally as the owner of the most famous restaurant of his day. His story is told against the backdrop of an open red-light district so famous it was known to the crown heads of Europe.

About the Author

ART BILEK was the chief of the Cook County Sheriff's Police, a member of the Chicago Crime Commission, and a professor at Loyola University. The coauthor of The St. Valentine's Day Massacre, he lives in Evanston, Illinois.