Award-winning author Richard B. McCaslin is a professor of history at the University of North Texas. In addition to recognition by the Texas Philosophical Society for At the Heart of Texas and awards for the recent publication Fighting Stock, his book, Tainted Breeze: The Great Hanging at Gainesville, Texas, October 1862, won the Tullis Prize and Lee in the Shadow of Washington claimed the Latten Award, Laney Prize and a Pulitzer nomination. Dr. Scott Belshaw is a tenure-track assistant professor of criminal justice at the University of North Texas and former adjunct professor of forensic psychology at Argosy University. His research has appeared in numerous academic criminal justice journals including the Criminal Justice Review and the American Journal of Criminal Justice. A veteran of the U.S. Navy and Naval Reserve who served during Operation Desert Storm, Dr. Belshaw holds a PhD in juvenile justice from Prairie View A&M. Nicole Boatman earned a bachelor of science degree in psychology at the University of North Texas in 2012. Upon graduation she worked in the private sector of behavioral health for one of the country's largest healthcare management companies. She returned to UNT to complete her master of science in criminal justice. Her thesis provided a historical account of Texas organized crime and developed into this book. She now works as an investigator at one of the nation's largest private investigation firms.

At the dawn of the twentieth century, Galveston was a beacon of opportunity on the Texas Gulf Coast. Dubbed the Wall Street of the Southwest, its laissez-faire reputation called those hungry for success to its shores. Led by brothers Salvatore and Rosario at the height of Prohibition, the Maceo family answered that call and changed the Oleander City forever. They built an island empire of gambling, smuggling and prostitution that lasted three decades. Housed in their nightclubs frequented by stars like Peggy Lee, Frank Sinatra and Duke Ellington, they endeared themselves to their Galveston neighbors by sharing their profits, imitating crime syndicates in their native Sicily. Though certainly no saints, the Maceos helped bring prosperity to a community weary from a century of turmoil. Discover the history of Galveston's famous crime family with authors Nicole Boatman, Dr. Scott Belshaw and Texas historian Richard McCaslin.