Book Review: Wicked Omaha by Ryan Roenfeld

 Wicked Omaha by Ryan Roenfeld, History Press, Charleston, SC, 2017.

If you want to read exerpts from old news papers about the prostitutes, thieves, murderers, gamblers, suicides and other low-lifes of Omaha this is the place to find it.  The book covers until about 1915 when the red light disgtricts were finally dispersed, and the prostitutes then found in many different areas.  It mentions Tom Dennison's political machine as partially responsible for tolerating the vices.  It also says he was behind the 1919 riot.  

For a long time prostitution was tolerated in Omaha.  The prostitutes were fined $5 at the first of the month, and then free to do what they wanted, sort of like a license.  

I found the book lacking.  I find the most disturbing thing about Omaha history was the racism betwen ethnic groups. The 1909 riot of Irish focing Greeks out of the community, and the race riots of 1919 are examples of this and barely mentioned in the book.  However the author obviously spent considerable time going through newspapers to report on the underbelly of Omaha history.