America's best-known gangster, Alphonse Capone, was the overlord of a vast criminal empire responsible for the rampant lawlessness and massive corruption plaguing Chicago during the 1920's Prohibition Era. At the same time, Al Capone's fame and colorful personality captured the hearts and minds of the public and press, transforming himself into a mythic folk hero. He was admired for his defiance of the law, his 'rags to riches' climb to fame, his wealth, power, and generosity. But this perfect image many bought into was not the actual reality. Al Capone was brutal and violent and did not hesitate to commit murder and mayhem whenever he thought necessary. Upon close examination of his life, especially before he was born and including his teenage years, one can only wonder why more Al Capones had not evolved.
             Al Capone was born on January 17, 1899, in Brooklyn, New York. His Italian heritage formed, molded, and influenced every aspect of his life and career, even before birth. Al Capone's family was from Naples, Italy, a capital that changed power many times over the past two thousand years. During the eighteenth century alone, Naples was controlled by the Greeks, Romans, Austrians, Spaniards, and French at one time or another.
             The centuries of rulers coming and going, cynically exploiting the region and then carelessly abandoning it, profoundly affected the Neapolitans and Southern Italian consciousness...Neapolitans tended to be antipapist, antimonarchist, antiauthoritarian (Bergreen 24).
             This atmosphere provided a perfect place for organized crime to thrive. The Camorra, an organized crime faction, originated in the Naples' prison as a force for order. The Camorra controlled the streets, the police, and the local government. A direct parallel can be established between Naples and Chicago in 1921. Chicago "...had a large working-class population that supported semilegitimate criminal societies working for hand in gl...