Boardwalk Empire

The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City

By: Nelson Johnson

Narrated by: Joe Mantegna, Terence Winter (foreword)

Length: 11 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

Earphones Award Winner (AudioFile Magazine)

From its inception, Atlantic City has always been a town dedicated to the fast buck, and this wide-reaching history offers a riveting account of its past 100 years, from the city's heyday as a Prohibition-era mecca of lawlessness to its rebirth as a legitimate casino resort in the modern era.

A colorful cast of characters, led by Enoch "Nucky" Johnson, populates this stranger-than-fiction account of corrupt politics and the toxic power structure that grew out of guile, finesse, and extortion. Atlantic City's shadowy past through its rise, fall, and rebirth is given new light in this revealing, and often appalling, study of legislative abuse and organized crime.

This audiobook, narrated by Joe Mantegna, is the true story that inspired the upcoming HBO series of the same name. It includes a foreword written and narrated by Terence Winter.

Download the accompanying reference guide.

©2009 Nelson Johnson (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Joe Mantegna's steady, unaffected reading of Johnson's history of Atlantic City is a model of good audiobook narration. Mantegna seems the perfect choice for this title, a solid professional whose voice is tuned to both the drama of individual moments and the rising and falling arcs of the narrative as a whole." (AudioFile)

Excellent account

History comes alive. Becomes fascinating. The process was helped a lot by superb narration. Well written book; well performed. A winner.

Wonderfully historical

interesting and informal on Rich American history and also entertaining quite a remarkable work of art

Not what I expected, but that's my fault

So, it's my fault for not listening to a preview or thoroughly reading the description.
I, like many, saw the title and remembered liking the show so I thought, sure! I knew it was non fiction, but did not expect a text book style history that starts way before the show and goes way after.
I tried. I listened to the first 2/3 of it, but once it got to the 50's I really couldn't force myself to keep going.
The book was interesting enough if you like learning about politics in Atlantic County throughout history. Narrator was great (Fat Tony from Simpsons!). But, if you're hoping to learn more about the characters from the show or hear some of the drama from the show in a book, do not waste your credits!! The time spent on the 20's and 30's is brief compared to the total of the book.
Not that the book is bad, just not at all what I was hoping for.

The Unmasked History of Atlantic City

I've been going to Atlantic City since the early 1960's. I know the place reasonably well for a tourist.
I had little idea of the history of the place, and the role politics played, until listening to this book.

If you like history, and politics, and are curious about Atlantic City, you'll like this book. The real life history of the political bosses that controlled Atlantic City from its founding after the civil war to modern times is better than fiction. The narration is good.

It seems that the author may have fallen in love with his subjects. His admiration for the corrupt political bosses seems a little curious.- although not a reason to not read the book

Since there aren't a lot of other histories of Atlantic City its hard to judge the historical accuracy. Some of the modern history was left out, particularly how Trump had a Wall St. analyst fired (Rothman) for predicting that his casinos were treading on thin ice. Rothman was right, as Trump's subsequent bankruptcy proved. Does he admire Trump a little too much? Trump wasted a ton of money on the Taj Mahal, by insisting on things like genuine imported marble be used in its interior, - for what? - for the scores of poor, recently arrived Russian immigrants who came down from Philly on buses and then ate their brown bagged lunches in Trump's gaudy monument to himself? -

The author's conclusion that the casinos should get together and sponsor air travel, to revitalize the resort, certainly is something that Gov. Christie should consider.

Solid and Entertaining

I had no acquaintance with the HBO series (other than wanting to see it) and virtually no knowledge of Atlantic City's history prior to the 1980s, and that only superficial. For this reason I went into 'Boardwalk Empire' with somewhat unrealistic expectations. I assumed that since this book purported to feature the mob in a large role (which it does), the book's pages would be littered with the bodies of snitches, gangsters and hard-luck losers. This is not the case, as virtually all of BE's characters die of natural causes.
Having said that, BE was a rewarding read despite my shattered expectations. The book is replete with stories of crime, graft and corruption, which makes for exciting reading. Some of the earlier, pre-crime chapters are a little slow, but the book soon shifts into full gear all the way up to the ill-advised afterword, which seems unnecessary. Moreover, the use of a different narrator for the afterword (although I enjoy T. Winter's work) is jarring.
Joe Mantegna is the highlight of the work. His heavily-inflected, but precise diction is a treat.

Interesting history of AC / southern NJ politics

As an NJ resident who considers NJ the 50th of the 50 states, it was enlightening to learn some history of the 20th century NJ politics. Home rule enables NJ to remain the crony capital of the USA.

The Details are in the Pudding

I liked the HBO show for its visuals and story. Although this book is not about the show, it does a great job of telling the story about Atlantic City.

Essay on the history of Atlantic city

Liked Joes narration, disliked the book itself. Dad bought the book for my mom, she started it, lost interest fave it to me, i started it lost interest and listened to it because it was on sale for $3...

not the type of book i listen to but if you want to learn about the history of Atlantic city this is the book. If you want something dramatic and a good story not so much

Excellent

We're "hooked" on the tv series so I had to listen to the book since I was too impatient to wait for the next episode! Turns out the tv version and the book have very little in common, but it's ok - the book was excellent and the tv series is excellent; they're just very different.

Glad I stuck with it

At half way through Boardwalk Empire I thought the author was getting too redundant about what it took to be an Enoch Johnson - favors, power, votes; but I stuck with the book and the second half was excellent. From Steven Wynn and Donald Trump to suggestions about what's wrong with AC and how to fix it were all entertaining and informative.