The History Channel

After flipping back and forth from the history channel to TV Land trying to decide which one was more in touch with history I was finally able to catch a show other than Ax Men, American Pickers, and Pawn Stars. The history channel managed to throw me a curve ball with a show detailing the rise of organized crime in America. The majority of the show focused on Al Capone declaring him the king of Chicago during Prohibition Era America. I was interested but I got the impression from the show that Al Capone inhereted a gang rather than built a gang from the ground up. It appeared to me that Johnny Torrio seemed to be the brains behind the gang that Al Capone eventually took over after Torrio "retired" from the organized crime life. The romanticized gang life that is portrayed on TV and in movies doesn't seem very realistic and I can't imagine that many of the foot soldiers got the same perks that the more well known gangsters received.