Boardwalk Empire is an American period drama series from premium cable channel HBO, set in Atlantic City, New Jersey, during the Prohibition era. It stars Steve Buscemi as Nucky Thompson. Primetime Emmy Award-winning screenwriter and producer Terence Winter adapted the show from Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City, a book by Nelson Johnson about historical criminal kingpin Enoch L. Johnson.