T.J. English offers a front-row seat at the trial of Whitey Bulger, and an intimate view of the world of organized crime--and law enforcement--that made him the defining Irish American gangster. For sixteen years, Whitey Bulger eluded the long reach of the law. For decades one of the most dangerous men in America, Bulger--the brother of influential Massachusetts senator Billy Bulger--was often romanticized as a Robin Hood-like thief and protector. While he was functioning as the de facto mob boss of New England, Bulger was also serving as a Top Echelon informant for the FBI, covertly feeding local prosecutors information about other mob figures-- while using their cover to cleverly eliminate his rivals, reinforce his own power, and protect himself from prosecution.