Portland’s Dirty Little Secret: A Look Inside Portland Confidential

When you think of Portland, Oregon, what comes to mind? Craft beer, indie bookstores, food trucks, and bike lanes? Think again.

In Portland Confidential: Sex, Crime, and Corruption in the Rose City, author Phil Stanford rewinds the clock to the 1940s and ’50s—a time when the City of Roses was less about hipster charm and more about mob money, political payoffs, and an open secret of vice that kept the city humming.

This isn’t just a book—it’s a time machine into Portland’s forgotten past. Through punchy prose, rare archival photos, and a storyteller’s eye for the scandalous, Stanford exposes a city controlled not by the people, but by an underworld of gamblers, madams, crooked cops, and power-hungry politicians. It’s noir nonfiction at its best—fast-paced, gritty, and almost too outrageous to be true.

What makes Portland Confidential stand out isn’t just its exposé of crime and corruption. It’s how it forces us to rethink the myth of the “good old days.” Portland may seem squeaky clean today, but its past is anything but. And understanding that past gives us a deeper, more honest look at the city we thought we knew.

So if you love true crime, hidden history, or just a good scandal told right, grab a copy of Portland Confidential. Trust us—this is one secret you’ll want to be in on.

Get the book here: https://amzn.to/4jxBGRV