Chicago Mobs of the Twenties

Chicago Mobs of the Twenties was a book published in New York on Earth in the year 1992. It detailed life in the city of Chicago during the 1920s when the conventional government had broken down and crime families had taken over. Some of the book's motifs were that one had to "make hits" and that "if someone argues you lean on them." It also described the concept of mob bosses, gang territories, and small mob groups known as "the small-fry."

In 2168, a copy of the book was left on the planet Sigma Iotia II by a crew member of the starship Horizon. The book, which remained on the surface of the planet after the Horizon landing party had departed, was later discovered by the native Iotians, a highly imitative race. The Iotians reinvented their entire society based on the information in the book, thinking it was the model for a perfect society. Iotians treated The Book, as they called it, with near-religious reverence, and did not tolerate any disrespect against it. Copies of The Book could be found in the headquarters of nearly every Boss.