I had always wanted to know what it was really like during those times to see how the war was fought by those agents asigned to taking down Copone and his henchmen. What is also interesting to learn about those times was how much money those special agents were paid by the government compared to how much money Copone and his men were making, the difference is huge. Great cop and robber book of its time and I can see why each Eliot and his team of men went on to do bigger and better things in their lives.

Seems a little sensationalized, after all it was written by the man himself some time after all the events took place. It seems like a typical 1950s type documentary. But still interesting, especially so since I'm from nearby all the places where this took place and I grew up with stories of gangsters in Capone's mafia.

Read this in 5th grade, after the TV show came out. The 5 star rating is from a fifth grader, don't know what I would rate it now.

I was just 6 years old when The Untouchables series began running on television, but I have vague memories of the noirish feel of the series and the expressionless, determined face of Robert Stack as Eliot Ness. Kevin Costner's Ness never really took the place of that neo-human hero of the late fifties and early sixties, in atmospheric black and white.

My impression of Ness's own story, told in this book, is close to that mythological Ness. The book feels more like a novel than a modern autobiography. I've heard that Ness exaggerates his own role in the events he describes -- I don't know whether that's true or not. But the narrative is smoother than real life. Ness radiates a kind of all-conquering goodness, enhanced with clever tactics and the loyalty of an equally incorruptible team. Good conquers evil, because, well, good is just so . . . good.

We can fault Ness for self-aggrandizing myth making. But, setting that aside, it's fun reading. Ness is a man on a mission. He rejects the corrupt peace that the police and the criminals, most notably of course, Al Capone, have reached. The police force and prohibition agents are ruined by "bad apples" -- the fatal moral weakness that allows Capone and others to rule Chicago in the twenties and thirties. Ness devises a simple plan, a "small select squad" with "no bad apples" -- a team whose greatest strength is its moral incorruptibiity.

As the team goes to work, busting breweries and distribution networks, the bootleggers realize that this is a different game. They can't buy victory, they'll have to outfight and outmaneuver Ness's team. But Ness's team is as determined to bust them as they are to make money and build power. When the bootleggers adopt new tactics, Ness and his team figure out new ways to defeat them. It really is a good story, and the good guys win.

I do have to mention one odd departure from the facts in the book. Betty Andersen appears in the book as Ness's girlfriend, and, in the book's Epilogue, Ness's co-author, Oscar Fraley, notes that she later became his wife. There is no mention of Edna Staley, who was actually Ness's wife during the time covered by the book. Ness and Betty Andersen did marry, but only after his divorce from his second wife, Evaline Ness, in 1946. We can only suspect that this cleaned-up version of his personal life is not the only cleaning up of the facts in the story that Ness tells.

The story makes better reading if we accept that the truth may have suffered a bit, or more than a bit, in the telling.

I've yet to see The Untouchables film, so I decided to be 'that guy' and read the book before watching the movie. I'm happy to have done so, although the book is older and fairly short, it brings to mind vivid pictures of the 20's and the way this rag-tag group of agents came to bring down one of history's most notorious gangsters. Great book, I now look forward to seeing how Hollywood perceived it!

Hard to put down! The exciting TRUE story of how G-Man Ness took down top Chicago gangster Al Capone. Forget the movie and the tv show; this is the real deal.

I wanted to read up about the infamous Eliot Ness and his team of Federal Prohibition Agents known as 'The Untouchables' - so called because they were beyond the reach of the corruption and bribery spread throughout 1920s Chicago by Al Capone and his mobsters.

I chose this book because it was written by the man himself. Unfortunately it wasn't quite what I hoped for. It was poorly written and, most of the time, pretty boring. It was mostly used to try and promote the upcoming movie. It is advertised as an autobiographical novel but it makes it very clear in the small print that events and characters depicted within are entirely fictional. So instead of reading an accurate (or at least, mostly accurate) account of true events I was left with poorly written 1950s thriller fiction in which Elliot Ness crows about how great he is.

Personally I'd avoid if you're looking for an account of what actually happened to Al Capone

Synopsis: "The Untouchables is the gripping true story of the team of men who broke the back of the vicious Chicago crime mob and its stranglehold on the nation, told by the man who orchestrated the effort."

My Review: I have a secret soft spot for mob books, I read Donnie Brasco's book in high school and since have rather enjoyed them. The Untouchables was no different. It is written in such a way that it is more like reading a journal account than an actual story. I enjoyed the book even though it wasn't quite as heart pounding as I expected, you would expect far more threats and shootouts from Al Capone. At times Eliot almost makes them seem dumb and lazy. All that said it was an interesting book and enjoyable to read, and rather a quick read too.

I need to own this.

I'm giving this low stars because I read it for the biographical aspect and, well, it certainly wasn't that.

I gave up 50 pages in or so but I'm counting it as read because I feel like I know all I need to about it--this reads like a little boy writing a story about himself as a big strong detective. Fascinating story but I can.not.deal. with the writing.

Nog ééntje uit de enorme pocketverzameling van mijn vader.
Het verhaal van Eliot Ness en zijn strijd tegen de maffiabaas Al Capone, opgetekend door Ness zelf.

Voor ik begon te lezen herinnerde ik me vooral de film The Untouchables van Brian De Palma met Kevin Costner en met de fenomenale vertolking van Sean Connery als Jimmy Malone. Die film was zelf gebaseerd op een TV-serie, die op haar beurt zou gebaseerd zijn op het verhaal van Ness, dit boek dus.

Het verhaal beperkt zich tot een periode van 2,5 jaar, vanaf het moment dat Ness de opdracht krijgt om een groep integere mannen te vormen, de onkreukbaren, tot het moment dat Capone achter de tralies vliegt.

Wat ik interessant vond is dat we hier het verhaal van Ness zelf te lezen krijgen, nog niet bijgewerkt onder invloed van allerlei verfilmingen (mijn exemplaar is van 1966). Ness doet zorgvuldig het verhaal van begin tot einde en zo krijgen we een idee van het huzarenstukje dat zijn onderzoek toch was. Hij houdt strak de chronologie aan en geeft hier en daar een beetje bijkomende informatie zoals bijvoorbeeld de voorgeschiedenis van Capone.

Maar het is allemaal nogal rechttoe rechtaan met korte zinnen en korte hoofdstukken. Ness omschrijft gewoon wat er gebeurde zonder enig gefilosofeer, zonder meningen, zonder nabeschouwingen. Het is net alsof hij zijn verhaal vertelt tussen pot en pint en het dan gewoon zo letterlijk wordt neergeschreven. Zo vertelt hij over de moorden, de zoektocht naar illegale stokerijen en hoe ze die ontmantelen, over de invallen, over de bedreigingen en de pogingen tot omkopingen.

Dat zorgt er wel voor dat er vaart in zit maar het is allemaal nogal oppervlakkig. Over Ness zijn karakter, zijn opinies, zijn andere leven, zijn dromen, zijn ambities, … komen we zo goed als niets te weten (behalve dat hij verloofd is). Ook alle andere personages met inbegrip van de mensen waar hij intens mee samenwerkt worden nergens uitgewerkt. Sommige personages krijgen niet eens een naam maar worden gewoon met hun roepnaam of koosnaam vermeld.
Verander de “ik” in “hij” en je krijgt gewoon een geschiedkundig verslag over die 2,5 jaar.

Och ja, ik zal dit niet gauw zeggen maar in dit geval was het een zegen dat men voor de film het scenario “verhollywoodiaanst” heeft en zich niet strikt aan het verhaal van Ness heeft gehouden.