Baby Face Nelson: Portrait of a Public Enemy

Excellent book, well written and well worth buying. One star deducted as there was not one photo of Nelson despite many available on the internet. Copyright presumably.

Very well researched well written bio of this well known gangster but one who has had very little written about him. The book dispels some of the myths and he was not as bad as legend would have it although he was still a nasty piece of work who never tried to make an honest living.

Very interesting and readable, especially for those interested in the subject and it shows that the authors also have genuine interest in what they're writing about, so while some of the events described in the book might be interpeted differently, not for a second my intelligence was insulted by bad editing, spelling, incorrect information and bad writing style as is the case with so many historical books today.

Having read Bryan Burrough's book "Public Enemies", and further books recommended by him, Steven Nickel's book on the life of Baby Face Nelson was not one of them but very much criticised. I was therefore influenced in my decision to delay purchasing the book until now and to reserve judgement for myself.However, I found it to be a very well written, very detailed account with plenty of dialogue so that you are left to imagine and picture the various scenes taking place in the very short life of one Lester Gillis. OK, there are a few "typos" but nothing to make an issue of!Three areas stood out for me: (1)the writer records that Lester Gillis, before indulging into his life of crime, seemed to have a decent job as a car salesman which at the time would have him given him some financial security but "the dealership ran into financial trouble, forcing the owner to let Lester go". One wonders what path Gillis would have taken if he could have held the job....(2) After the death of Agent Carter Baum at Little Bohemia, a manhunt is directed at Gillis (and rightly so), however, no one is brought to justice for the slaying of Eugene Boiseneau. Obviously the Bureau of Investigation (the Dept of Justice!!) covered up their own mistake and "the names of the agents participating in the raid were not disclosed".(3) I found the Battle of Barrington a very comprehensive and riveting read - and yet sad that all three men involved (Gillis, Agents Cowley and Hollis) left behind wives and children.He is not portrayed in this book as the psychotic individual some writers dictate but one whom even John Dillinger himself was thankful for.