The Mafia: History And Legend

Features of The Mafia: History and Legend

An illustrated history of the Mafia focusing on this highly developed criminal organization both as a cult subject and an important social phenomenon Movie classics like The Godfather epitomize our fascination with the underworld of the Mafia conjuring images of cigarsmoking dons and shootouts in pizzerias But behind the romantic myths of men of honor and omert lies a very real world of murder racketeering and organized crime Marco Gasparini traces the evolution of the Mafia from nineteenthcentury Sicily to the streets of twentiethcentury New York to the international cartels that rule the illegal drug and arms trades today In this authoritative volume he exposes the many secrets of an octopus organization that has remained impenetrable for decades despite the efforts of heroic crime fighters such as New York police officer Joe Petrosino and the similarly illfated Italian judge Giovanni Falcone almost a century later We discover the Mafias greatest godfathers underbosses and soldiers as well as its pentiti or turncoats and the most formidable wives of Mafiosi This book not only focuses on the original Sicilian Cosa Nostra and its various branchessuch as Al Capones Chicago Outfit or the still existent Corleonesiit also features the equally bloody Neapolitan Camorra which inspired the compelling documentary Gomorrah and the Japanese Yakuza the largest organized crime group in the world today as well as the evergrowing Russian and Chinese mafias Mafia reveals the multifaceted reality behind a phenomenon that has sparked the popular imagination for decades