“Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City”, by Nelson Johnson

290 pages, Fall River Press, ISBN-13: 978-1435158528

In his book Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City, Nelson Johnson tells the tale of a bustling little city by the seashore totally dependent upon money spent by tourists of a variety of stripes (yes, yes, yes it served, at least in part, as the inspiration for the HBO series, although that was a work of fiction, and the early days of “AC” take up only a part of the book). Atlantic City began as a bug infested barrier island that Dr. Jonathan Pitney dreamed of turning into a health spa for the masses; instead, it became an anything goes boardwalk of vice for the blue collar workers of Philadelphia and New Jersey, with its popularity rising in the early 20^th Century and peaking during Prohibition as the resort’s singular purpose of providing a good time to its visitors (lawful or otherwise) demanded a singular mentality to rule the town. Success of the local economy was the only ideology, the law be damned, and critics and do-gooders were not tolerated. By 1900, a political juggernaut, funded by payoffs from gambling rooms, bars, and brothels, was firmly entrenched, and for the next 70 years Atlantic City was dominated by a partnership comprised of local politicians and racketeers. This unique alliance reached full bloom in the person of Enoch “Nucky” Johnson, the second of three bosses to head the Republican machine (I’m sorry to say) that dominated city politics and society.

In Boardwalk Empire, Nucky Johnson, Louis “the Commodore” Kuehnle, Frank “Hap” Farley, and Atlantic City itself spring to life in all their garish splendor. This book was well written and the early history was very interesting, what with the good doctor with his dreams for a resort for the wealthy, the railroads being fought over and built, even the mosquitos and Philadelphia’s attraction to the vices. However, after the first couple of power struggles and corruption stories it became rather boring and pedestrian in style. If the subject matter intrigues you, this book will probably be worth a read; however, don’t expect high drama or strong narrative (and certainly not anything as spicy as the HBO series). Johnson does an excellent job reconstructing key eras in Atlantic City’s and New Jersey’s recent past, and is at his best when explaining the multifaceted politics-meets-racket machine that was Atlantic City and the people that dominated it. Balancing this are a tendency to start strong with narrative, and then devolve to “note card transcription” modes of storytelling; these are at their worst during the chapters on Atlantic City’s decline and early-casino organized crime forays. In these portions of the city’s story, strong or dominant individual figures aren’t present to capture and focus attention, and Johnson’s writing style takes the already complex and muddy “histories” and renders them sometimes intractable (the last chapter on the coming of Donald Trump is interesting, considering The Donald’s current improbable residence).