Dillinger: The Untold Story - Hardcover

'Dillinger: The Untold Story" is a remarkable contemporary account of John Dillinger's career as a bank robber and his run-ins with the FBI. Written in the 1930s by G. Russell Girardin but never published, the book is based on information supplied by Dillinger's lawyer, Louis Piquett. Here at last is the inside scoop on a number of old questions: How did Dillinger engineer his famous "wooden gun" jailbreak? What were Dillinger's ties to his betrayer Anna Sage? Was there any truth to the charges that some of Dillinger's bank robberies were prearranged with the banks? Packed with illustrations and new information, this is a feast for crime buffs. G. Russell Girardin was trying to start up an advertising agency in 1933, when a chance encounter with Dillinger's lawyer led to the writing of a series of newspaper articles and a never-published book. Girardin went on to have a successful career as the head of an advertising agency. He died in 1990, just four months after he met William J. Helmer and gave him the long-forgotten manuscript on Dillinger. William J. Helmer is a contributing editor at Playboy. The author of countless magazine articles and book reviews, Helmer's previous books include "The Gun That Made the Twenties Roar" and "Playboy's Illustrated History of Crime'.

While researching a book on Depression-era outlaws, Playboy editor William J. Helmer stumbled upon a 600-page manuscript on John Dillinger. Written in the 1930s by G. Russell Girardin but never published, Dillinger: The Untold Story is a remarkable contemporary account of Dillinger's life and crimes, based in part on information given to Girardin by the outlaw's lawyer, Louis Piquett, not long after Dillinger's death. Though a series of articles by Girardin and Piquett appeared in the Hearst newspapers at the time, the big book manuscript remained yellowing on the shelf for half a century until Helmer met Girardin and agreed to help get it into print. Here at last is the inside story on the famous ""wooden gun"" jailbreak, Dillinger's ties to ""The Lady in Red"" and the East Chicago policeman who was her lover and one of his killers, the charges that some of Dillinger's bank robberies were prearranged with the banks, and Dillinger's contacts with Al Capone's Chicago Syndicate. Packed with illustrations and new information from FBI files and other sources, Dillinger: The Untold Story is an authentic slice of American history and a feast for true crime buffs.