{"product_id":"verne-sankey-americas-first-public-enemy","title":"Verne Sankey: Americas First Public Enemy","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn late January of 1934  as authorities delivered John Dillinger to an Indiana jail  the United States Justice Department announced  for the first time  that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had just captured Americas Public Enemy No. 1. It was not Dillinger the Justice Department was referring to  but an affable railroader turned outlaw  Verne Sankey. Now Timothy W. Bjorkman has written the first full-length biography of this overlooked criminal  relating how a South Dakota family man became a bootlegger  a bank robber  and eventually  a kidnapper whose deeds heralded a nationwide crime spree. In the early days of Prohibition  Sankey  then a locomotive engineer  was drawn to the easy money he could make bootlegging. When crime syndicates monopolized the trade and Prohibitions end was in sight  he turned to the occasional bank robbery and eventually to a ransom scheme. In tracing the life of Sankeyand his demure wife  FernBjorkman depicts a good-natured man  friendly neighbor  and gentleman rumrunner catering to the banker and broker trade. He also explores Sankeys motivations  his identification as Americas first Public Enemy  and his ultimate descent into oblivion. Verne Sankey: Americas First Public Enemy is a riveting narrative set amid the Great Depression. Bjorkmans research painstakingly reveals the life of Verne Sankey and his times  delving into the intriguing story of the family of his kidnapping victim  Charles Boettcher II  and the stark contrast between wealth and poverty during some of Americas most harrowing days.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44966185369653,"sku":"ByrdShop_080613853X","price":90.59,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780806138534.jpg?v=1770556640","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/verne-sankey-americas-first-public-enemy","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}