Peter Carlson, Author at HistoryNet

Polly Adler with friends at lake Opatcong in New Jersey, 1923.

Who Was Polly Adler, the Celebrity Madame of the Roaring Twenties?

by Peter Carlson8/23/202210/17/2022

The Russian-born entrepreneur rose from poverty to run a series of high-end Manhattan brothels and befriend the rich and famous.

Counterculture San Francisco Found Sympathy for the Devil in Occultist Anton Szandor LaVey

by Peter Carlson2/20/202110/29/2021

H.L. Mencken’s Cynical Commentary Made Americans Laugh—Little Did They Know

by Peter Carlson11/23/202012/2/2020

Benny and the Bets

by Peter Carlson9/15/20209/15/2020

Norton I, America’s First Emperor: Fraud or Genius?

by Peter Carlson8/18/20208/20/2020

How Oscar Wilde Captured America’s Fancy

by Peter Carlson8/17/20208/25/2020

Roy Cohn: The Toughest, Meanest, Most Brilliant Lawyer in New York

by Peter Carlson3/19/20204/21/2020