History is about so much more than memorizing facts. It is about the story. And, told in the right way, it is the greatest one ever written: Good and evil, triumph and tragedy, despicable acts of barbarism and courageous acts of heroism. Glenn’s latest book,Miracles and Massacres, is history as you’ve never heard it told. It’s incredible events that you never knew existed. And it’s stories so important and relevant to today that you won’t have to ask: Why didn’t they teach me this?
Everyone has heard of “the butterfly effect” - the idea that a tiny change somewhere far away can snowball into a huge force, sometimes powerful enough to alter the future of the world.
The “butterfly” in this case was a man named Al Capone.
Capone was a very bad guy, and he was proud of it. Most people associate him with violence - and for very good reason - but he was also a scam artist. At the height of the Depression, Capone would bribe his way into the kennel at the dog track and feed nine of the greyhounds a fat porterhouse steak. Then he’d bet on the 10th dog because he knew it’d be hungry.
Because of all this, Capone was constantly in need a lawyer, preferably someone who was on the straight and narrow. He quickly found a good man for the job, an up-and-coming attorney named Eddie. Eddie took the job, but he didn't remain a good man for very long.
Like a lot of connected guys, the lawyer was soon given a nickname - “Easy Eddie” - and he helped “Scarface” Al Capone get away with every kind of crime you can imagine. Bootlegging through prohibition, buying protection with political pay-offs, even the St. Valentine's Day Massacre. And though the money was endless, none of this ever quite sat right with Easy Eddie.
Eddie had told himself that he'd only agreed to work for Capone to help provide for his wife and two young kids. But, little by little, he’d become almost as bad as Capone himself.
He had no way of knowing that the same day he'd made his deal with the devil, the butterfly effect had been set in motion.
That tiny flap of wind grew larger and larger until one day, against all odds, it lead to something quite remarkable. I can’t spoil it here, but I can tell you this: Easy Eddie’s decision to join the mob is connected to a hero who may very well have turned the tide for the Allies, thereby changing the outcome of World War II.
How is that possible? Find out in chapter 7 of Miracles and Massacres: Easy Eddie and the Hard Road to Redemption. You may never look at the choices you make in life the same way again.