The story of Enoch “Nucky” Thompson’s (Steve Buscemi) ironclad rule over Atlantic City during the Prohibition era may seem too extraordinary to be true (and to some extent it is), but it's rooted in reality. Although Nelson Johnson’s nonfiction book Boardwalk Empire covers several eras of A.C.’s history, its most compelling character is Enoch “Nucky” Johnson, the real-life inspiration for the HBO series’ Nucky Thompson. As we explore the true stories as relayed in Nelson Johnson’s book, we’ll see how the show is mostly accurate in its depiction of corruption and crime during the Roaring Twenties. But we’ll also discover how the real-life Johnson differs substantially from the fictional Thompson.