Download or read book History of the Mafia written by Salvatore Lupo and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2009-07-01 with total page 347 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When we think of the Italian Mafia, we think of Marlon Brando, Tony Soprano, and the Corleones iconic actors and characters who give shady dealings a mythical pop presence. Yet these sensational depictions take us only so far. The true story of the Mafia reveals both an organization and mindset dedicated to the preservation of tradition. It is no accident that the rise of the Mafia coincided with the unification of Italy and the influx of immigrants into America. The Mafia means more than a horse head under the sheets it functions as an alternative to the state, providing its own social and political justice. Combining a nuanced history with a unique counternarrative concerning stereotypes of the immigrant, Salvatore Lupo, a leading historian of modern Italy and a major authority on its criminal history, has written the definitive account of the Sicilian Mafia from 1860 to the present. Consulting rare archival sources, he traces the web of associations, both illicit and legitimate, that have defined Cosa Nostra during its various incarnations. He focuses on several crucial periods of transition: the Italian unification of 1860 to 1861, the murder of noted politician Notarbartolo, fascist repression of the Mafia, the Allied invasion of 1943, social conflicts after each world war, and the major murders and trials of the 1980s. Lupo identifies the internal cultural codes that define the Mafia and places these codes within the context of social groups and communities. He also challenges the belief that the Mafia has grown more ruthless in recent decades. Rather than representing a shift from "honorable" crime to immoral drug trafficking and violence, Lupo argues the terroristic activities of the modern Mafia signify a new desire for visibility and a distinct break from the state. Where these pursuits will take the family adds a fascinating coda to Lupo's work.

Download or read book Bella Mafia written by Lynda La Plante and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2014-04-24 with total page 937 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Don Roberto Luciano, boss of the Sicilian Mafia, agrees to be chief witness in the trial of Paul Carolla, who murdered Luciano's firstborn son, Michael, 20 years ago. Despite round-the-clock protection, all the Luciano men are killed the night before a family wedding. The don's wife, Graziella, holds together what's left of the family - daughters-in-law Theresa and Sophia, and Theresa's daughter Rosa - while instructing their lawyer to sell off business holdings. Eventually the women become involved in the business themselves, trying to recover money that's disappeared into Carolla's hands. Following a courtroom shootout, Carolla's adopted son Luka, using his knowledge of organization politics and his mastery of murder, becomes the women's partner and protector. Once the Luciano women discover Luka's secret, however, they implacably take revenge in the ruthless manner of their age-old code, and the strongest of them becomes the new head of the family, the bella mafiosa . . .

Download or read book Understanding Mafia written by and published by Manchester University Press. This book was released on 2024-07-30 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An anthology of writings in Italian which examine the origins, nature and culture of the Sicilian mafia. Separate chapters are devoted to the culture from which the mafia emerged, the economic and business activities in which it is now engaged, its relations with politics and politicians, as well as its structure and historical evolution. There are portraits of prominent mafiosi as well as of the people and organizations that have struggled against mafia crime. The individual pieces come from a diverse range of sources, including newspapers, historical and sociological works. There is an introduction in English, as well as a full vocabulary and a glossary of terms associated with the mafia.

Download or read book La Bella Mafia written by Morgan James and published by . This book was released on 2013-08-30 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Mafia written by René Seindal and published by Museum Tusculanum Press. This book was released on 1998 with total page 188 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Antonio Salvo was a mafioso, but he did not traffic in narcotics, he did not run weapons, he did not kill anyone and he did not take part in the 'ordinary' mafia activities. Salvo was a business man, one of the wealthiest business men in Sicily. He took an interest in all important lines of business and had close political connections at the highest levels in Rome. He represented another, but not less important side of the mafia. He was a central part of the far-reaching network of economic and political interests that dominated Sicily through decades. This book analyses the economic and political activities of the mafia on the basis of the latest source material and explains how the mafia has succeeded in surviving, protecting, and flourishing in post-war Italy.

Download or read book Mafia Brotherhoods written by Letizia Paoli and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2008-06-01 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Relying on previously undisclosed confessions of former mafia members now cooperating with the police, Letizia Paoli provides a clinically accurate portrait of mafia behavior, motivations, and structure in Italy. The mafia, Paoli demonstrates, are essentially multifunctional ritual brotherhoods focused above all on retaining and consolidating their local political power base. A truly interdisciplinary work of history, politics, economics, and sociology, Mafia Brotherhoods reveals in dramatic detail the true face of one of the world's most mythologized criminal organizations.

Download or read book The Sicilian Mafia written by Anita Bestler and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2023-07-27 with total page 479 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book offers a completely new approach to the complex social phenomenon of the Mafia: In addition to the origins, organization and actions of the Mafia, the author Anita Bestler examines above all the close connection between organized crime and politics. In the process, readers [also] gain an interesting insight into the complicated political development of Italy from the founding of the state to the present, as well as an answer as to why Italians have a different political mindset.

Download or read book Mafia and Antimafia written by Umberto Santino and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2015-07-23 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The mafia is the impenetrable and seemingly infallible embodiment of notoriety and criminality. Umberto Santino, one of Italy's leading mafia experts, here provides a new perspective on the mafia: as a polymorphic organization which encompasses crime, the accumulation of corruptly acquired wealth and power, the cultural code of omerta and consensus. Exploring the movements which strive to fight against the powers of the mafia, such as the campaigns of civil society organizations like the Centro siciliano di documentazione, the author also provides a fresh look at the mechanisms - and struggles - of the antimafia movement.

Download or read book The Mafia in Italian Lives and Literature written by Robin Pickering-Iazzi and published by University of Toronto Press. This book was released on 2015-01-01 with total page 285 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Pickering-Iazzi uses an array of cultural documents from 1990 to the present to examine the myths, values, codes of behaviour, and relationships produced by the Italian mafia through a wide cross-disciplinary lens.

Download or read book Mafia Life written by Federico Varese and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018-03-07 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We see mafias as vast, powerful organizations, harvesting billions of dollars across the globe and wrapping their tentacles around everything from governance to finance. But is this the truth? Traveling from mafia initiation ceremonies in far-flung Russian cities to elite gambling clubs in downtown Macau, Federico Varese sets off in search of answers. Using wiretapped conversations, interviews, and previously unpublished police records, he builds up a picture of the real men and women caught up in mafia life, showing their loves and fears, ambitions and disappointments, as well as their crimes. Mafia Life takes us into the real world of organized crime, where henchmen worry about bad managers and have high blood pressure, assassinations are bungled as often as they come off, and increasing pressure from law enforcement means that a life of crime is no longer lived in the lap of luxury. As our world changes, so must mafias. Globalization, migration, and technology are disrupting their traditions and threatening their revenue streams, and the Mafiosi must evolve or die. Mafia Life is an intense and totally compelling look at these organizations and the daily life of their members, as they get to grips with the modern world.

Download or read book Mafia Violence written by Monica Massari and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-11-08 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Using in-depth field research and analysis of case studies, Mafia Violence: Political, Symbolic, and Economic Forms of Violence in Camorra Clans focuses attention on the phenomenon of violence performed by Italian organised crime groups, devoting specific attention to the Camorra, which has been responsible since the mid-1980s for almost half of all mafia homicides documented in Italy. The Camorra has acquired increased visibility at an international level due to its intense use of violence and high level of dangerousness, but until now, the study of the different forms of violence implemented by mafias has not received systematic attention at the scientific level. Hence, this book fills this gap by providing a both theoretical and empirical contribution toward the analysis of one of the most unknown – although highly visible and dangerous – dimension of mafias’ action. This collection of work by distinguished scholars provides a unique overview of the multifaceted characteristics of violence currently performed by mafia groups in Italy by focusing on specific actors – i.e., Camorra clans – but also other traditional mafia organisations such as Cosa Nostra and ’Ndrangheta; specific contexts – i.e., different territories and different markets, both legal and illegal; and specific practices and performances. Part I takes a diachronic and comparative perspective to provide an overview of mafias’ violence during the past 30 years, focusing on the three most prominent criminal organisations active in Italy: Camorra, Cosa Nostra, and ’Ndrangheta. Based on the outcomes of a major project carried out by a research group at the University of Naples Federico II from 2015 to 2017, Part II looks at the use of violence by Camorra clans, incorporating information from case studies, judicial files, law enforcement investigations, wiretappings, interviews with privileged observers, firsthand empirical data, and historical documents and social sciences literature. Using a multi-disciplinary approach drawing from criminology, sociology, history, anthropology, economics, political science, and geography, this book is essential reading for international researchers and practitioners interested in piecing together the full picture of modern organised crime.

Download or read book Challenging the Mafia Mystique written by Rino Coluccello and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-04-29 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Sicilian Mafia, or Cosa Nostra, is one of the most intriguing criminal phenomena in the world. It is an unparalleled organised criminal grouping that over almost two centuries has been able not only to successfully permeate licit and illicit economy, politics and civil society, but also to influence and exercise authoritative power over both the underworld and the upper-world. This criminal phenomenon has been a captivating conundrum for scholars of different disciplines who have tried to explain with various paradigms the reasons behind the emergence and consolidation of the mafia. Challenging the Mafia Mystique provides an analysis of the changes the Sicilian mafia has undergone, from legitimisation to denunciation. Rino Coluccello highlights how, from the very emergence of the organised criminal groups in Sicily, a culture existed that was protective and tolerant of the mafia. He argues that the various conceptualisations of the mafia that dominated the public and scientific debate in the nineteenth and more than half of the twentieth century created a mystique, which legitimised the mafia and contributed to their success. This book will be of great interest to scholars and students of organised crime, Italian politics and Italian literature.

Download or read book Cosa Nostra A History of the Sicilian Mafia written by John Dickie and published by St. Martin's Press. This book was released on 2015-03-31 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Italian-American mafia has its roots in a mysterious and powerful criminal network in Sicily. While the mythology of the mafia has been widely celebrated in American culture, the true origins of its rituals, laws, and methods have never actually been revealed. John Dickie uses startling new research to expose the secrets of the Sicilian mafia, providing a fascinating account that is more violent, frightening, and darkly comic than anything conceived in popular movies and novels. How did the Sicilian mafia begin? How did it achieve its powerful grip in Italy and America? How does it operate today? From the mafia's origins in the 1860s to its current tense relationship with the Berlusconi government, Cosa Nostra takes us to the inner sanctum where few have dared to go before. This is an important work of history and a revelation for anyone who ever wondered what it means to be "made" in the mob.

Download or read book Mafia Prince written by Phil Leonetti and published by Running Press Adult. This book was released on 2014-04-29 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: MONEY, MURDER, AND MACHIAVELLIAN MAYHEM ... CONTAINS A NEW EPILOGUE Mafia Prince is the first person account of one of the most brutal eras in Mafia history—“Little Nicky” Scarfo's reign as boss of the Philadelphia family in the 1980s—written by Scarfo's underboss and nephew, “Crazy Phil” Leonetti. The youngest-ever underboss at the age of 33, Leonetti was at the crux of the violent breakup of the traditional American Mafia in the 1980s when he infiltrated Atlantic City after gambling was legalized, and later turned state's evidence against his own. His testimony led directly to the convictions of dozens of high-ranking men including John Gotti, Vincent Gigante, and the downfall of his own uncle, Nick Scarfo—sparking the beginning of the end of La Cosa Nostra (the insiders' term for the Mafia, translated as “This Thing of Ours”).

Download or read book Mafia Organizations written by Maurizio Catino and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2019-02-07 with total page 359 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Makes sense of mafias as organizations, via a pioneering comparative analysis of seven mafia groups from around the world. This collative study of historical accounts, official data, investigative sources, and interviews will aid students and scholars of sociology, organizational studies and criminology to better understand how mafias work.

Download or read book Criminal Markets and Mafia Proceeds written by Ernesto Savona and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-03-22 with total page 169 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book estimates the proceeds of crime and mafia revenues for different criminal markets such as sexual exploitation, drugs, illicit cigarettes, loan sharking, extortion racketeering, counterfeiting, illicit firearms, illegal gambling and illicit waste management. It is the first time that scholars have adopted detailed methodologies to ensure the highest reliability and validity of the estimation. Overall, estimated proceeds of crime amount to € 22.8 billion: 1.5% of the Italian GDP. Of this, up to € 10.7 billion (0.7 of the GDP) may be attributable to the Italian mafias. These figures are considerably lower than the ones most frequently circulated on the news, without any details about their methodology, which were defined by a UN study as "gross overestimates". Far from underestimating criminal revenues, the results of this study bring the issue of the proceeds of crime to an empirically-based debate, providing support for improved future estimates and more effective policies. The volume’s contributions were inspired by a project awarded by the Italian Ministry of Interior to Transcrime, which produced the first report on mafia investments (www.investimentioc.it). This book was originally published as a special issue of Global Crime.

Download or read book The Ndrangheta and Sacra Corona Unita written by Nicoletta Serenata and published by Springer. This book was released on 2014-05-13 with total page 190 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book covers two lesser known but important members of the Italian Mafia: the ’Ndrangheta and the Sacra Corona Unita. Italian criminal organizations, in particular Mafia, are one of the most commonly researched organized crime groups, usually focusing on the Sicilian Mafia, Cosa Nostra, or the Neapolitan Mafia, Camorra. However, Italy has other two other Mafias, one in Apulia, Sacra Corona Unita, and the other in Calabria, ’Ndrangheta. Although an extensive literature is available on Cosa Nostra and Camorra, less is known about the other two organizations, particularly their operations in the United States. Territory is one of the most important elements in the Mafia because the criminal organization operates its signoria territoriale, controlling every illegal activity in its sphere of action. This territorial power goes beyond the Italian boundaries reaching the United States of America and other non-European countries, with the mere aim of developing their drug/weapon deals and money laundering businesses. Mafia, therefore, is not a uniquely Italian phenomenon as it might appear, but a worldwide phenomenon, affecting many societies and economies. This unique volume is its interest into a field as yet completely provides new information about the ’Ndrangheta and Sacra Corona Unita written by an interdisciplinary group of Italian scholars. It covers organizational, hierarchic, and operative aspects: that is, the role that they have in politics, in their own families, in business relations in Italy and abroad. It also highlights the particular role that Cosa Nostra and Camorra had in their development. This work will be of interest to criminology researchers studying organized crime, corruption, money laundering and trafficking, as well as researchers from related fields, such as political science, economics, and international relations.