Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires

This book is a reference work on the history of the mafia. The author is a highly respected New York crime reporter. Selwyn Raab keeps cropping up as a talking head in TV documentaries about organised crime. The great thing about this book is that Raab has a very sharp reporter's eye for identifying the key motivations driving the mobsters and their pursuers in law enforcement. He is a master at simply explaining precisely what happened and why in a gripping manner. You learn that District Attorney Giuliani took an enormous risk prosecuting the bosses of four of the five mafia families in one single spectacular court case. The RICO anti-racketeering legislation was totally untried, it had never been used before. There was a good chance the whole thing could have collapsed if a judge somewhere in the system had decided that RICO was somehow unconstitutional. Instead of prosecuting the 'Commission Case' himself, Giuliani appointed a respected academic lawyer with relatively little courtroom experience as lead prosecutor. He was going up against some of the best defence lawyers money could buy. Giuliani chose the right man as well as the right legislation. When the Mafia bosses where convicted, it was a major blow to organised crime in America and beginning of the end of the impregnable vow of omertà. There ought to be a Rudi Giuliani Day in the States. He is a great American hero. I recommend this book. A page turner, a thumping good read.

An extreemely interesting read about post second world war mafia. It is extreemely well written and will give you a very concise read about the higherlings of the five mafia families.The books main point is the introduction of the Rackateering Influenced and Corrupt Orginations law (RICO) and its major implementations on recent crime figures such as gotti and massino.However, if you are looking for a book detailing pre second world war mafia then this is not it. Luciano is briefly detailed, murder inc is included a bit but that is not what this book is about - and no, al capone is not in this book!!If you want to know all sbout the ups and downs of more recent mafia activities then i would definately recoment you read this book!

great book , typical mafia events, had a little trouble keeping up with the Italian names

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I have read a lot of books on the Italian-American Mafia and this one is right up there with the best one’s I’ve read. While others I read cover specific times or people this one covers the entire history. The style it’s written in makes is very engaging and easy to read. I’d highly recommend this to any one with an interest in the Mafia whether they have read other books on the topic or not.

Extremely good book, very thick. If you like books on the mafia this is the best one I've read by far in fact I'm still reading it as its such a big book in which I mean the thickness of it. Interesting facts on the main five mafia families.

An in - depth almost chronological account of New Yorks five mafia families and their Godfathers, written as though the author was there when it all happened. Intricate details and accounts of murders, court cases, family fueds and criminal enterprises, described by figuregeads from both the Mafia and the numerous law - enforcement agencies make this an exceptional book.

I was after this book for a long time and couldnt get it anywhere, was so pleased when I saw it on Amazon, the book was great value and was in excellent condition when I got it.

The book was great. A fascinating read.a shame the cover was damaged when I received it.

The mafia bible, thick as two stacked bricks it’s a big read

Envío muy rápido, en muy buenas condiciones

Para todo el que tenga interés en la mafia se trata de una lectura absolutamente imprescindible: Un tratado prolijo y perfectamente documentado sobre la historia de la mafia de Nueva York, pero también sobre las estrategias que siguieron las distintas agencias para contrarrestar su inmenso poder.

Per chi vuole comprendere il fenomeno mafioso al di fuori dei propri confini culturali e geografici. Un opera di giornalismo storico adatto anche a lettori poco esperti del settore

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