Download or read book The Gambino Family History written by W G Davis and published by Diamondback Publishers International. This book was released on 2020-09-23 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the fall of 1931, Charles "Lucky" Luciano calls the most powerful gangsters to a hotel in Chicago for a meeting that will soon change the way that organized crime is run in America. He creates the Five Families just like they did back in Sicily. His words were, "We have to run our business like a business." With the Capos, the Crews, and the Consiglieres, all reporting to the head of the family, The Boss, but there will be no more Boss of Bosses. He also created a board of directors, "The Commission" run by the heads of the five New York families. They will have the final say in all matters, even life and death. In a single move, Luciano creates the most powerful organized crime syndicate America has ever seen. And then twenty-six-years later on the morning of October 25, 1957, Albert Anastasia was killed, and with his death came the birth of The Gambino Crime Family. Even though they are no longer headline news in the newspapers across the country, The Gambino Crime Family continues to be active in a variety of criminal enterprises. In this book, we will journey over 100 years of Mafia history from the 1898 reign of Ignazio 'the Wolf' Lupo, through the prohibition years and the 1929 Castellammarese War. We'll trace the footsteps and battles of Lucky Luciano, Carlo Gambino, Paul Castellano, and John Gotti as they make millions, kill thousands, and create empires.
Download or read book Mafia Dynasty written by John H. Davis and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 1994-05-11 with total page 548 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Gambinos--they arrived in America from Sicily when the `20's roared with bootleg liquor. For thirty years they fought a bloody battle for control of New York's underworld to emerge as the nation's richest and most powerful crime family. Now Mafia expert John H. Davis tells their compelling inside story. Here are the chilling details and deceptions that created a vast criminal empire. Here are six decades of the uncontrolled greed and lust for power of such men as Lucky Luciano, Frank Costello, Meyer Lansky, Vito Genovese, Albert Anastasia, Carlo Gambino, Paul Castellano, and John Gotti--men for whom murder and betrayal were business as usual. From the Gambinos' powerful stranglehold on New York's construction, garment, and waterfront industries to the government's onslaught against them in the `80s and `90s, Mafia Dynasty takes you into the mysterious world of blood oaths, shifting alliances, and deadly feuds that will hold you riveted from the first page to the last.
Download or read book Surviving the Mob written by Dennis N. Griffin and published by Huntington Press Inc. This book was released on 2010 with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What do you do when the law wants you behind bars and the New York crime families want you buried? Surviving the Mob is a cautionary tale of the harsh reality of a criminal, inmate, fugitive, and witness who -- so far -- has lived to tell the tale.
Download or read book The Bonanno Family A History of New York s Bonanno Mafia Family written by Andy Petepiece and published by Tellwell Talent. This book was released on 2021-04-10 with total page 362 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Bonanno Family is a well-researched book on the 100-plus-year history of one of New York's infamous La Cosa Nostra organizations. It begins with an outline of the first Bosses, and ends with Boss Mikey Mancuso demoting his Acting Boss and Consigliere. Some of the important events covered included the 1931 killing of Boss of Bosses Salvatore Maranzano, the formation of the Commission, and the dates of the national meetings of La Cosa Nostra. Among those was the infamous 1957 gathering of mob Bosses held at Boss Joseph Barbara's estate. Long-time leader Joseph Bonanno is profiled in this book, as are all his successors. I examine Bonanno's role in the killing of Salvatore Maranzano and Bonanno's alleged kidnapping in 1964. The book covers the Commission's expulsion of Bonanno and his son Salvatore and their many years after that historic event. There are three chapters on the long-ignored Montreal, Canada, wing of the Bonanno Family. This group eclipsed any New York Family in terms of wealth and reach. Due to their deep involvement in the drug trade, the Montreal crew operated worldwide, unlike the New York Families. Most readers of La Cosa Nostra will recognize many of the characters from its history. The book provides details on well-known hoods such as Carmine Galante, Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano, Joe Massino, Anthony Spero, and Vincent Basciano. American Mafia followers will get to know Canadian Mafia powers like Nicolo Rizzuto, Vito Rizzuto, Vic Cotroni, Paulo Violi and powerful Associates like Raynald Desjardins.
Download or read book Five Families written by Selwyn Raab and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2014-05-13 with total page 810 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The New York Times bestseller chronicling the history of NYC’s infamous five mafia families is now the basis for the upcoming The HISTORY® Channel documentary series American Godfathers: The Five Families. Genovese, Gambino, Bonnano, Colombo and Lucchese. For decades these Five Families ruled New York and built the American Mafia (or Cosa Nostra) into an underworld empire. Today, the Mafia is an endangered species, battered and beleaguered by aggressive investigators, incompetent leadership, betrayals and generational changes that produced violent and unreliable leaders and recruits. A twenty year assault against the five families in particular blossomed into the most successful law enforcement campaign of the last century. Selwyn Raab's Five Families is the vivid story of the rise and fall of New York's premier dons from Lucky Luciano to Paul Castellano to John Gotti and more. The book also brings the reader right up to the possible resurgence of the Mafia as the FBI and local law enforcement agencies turn their attention to homeland security and away from organized crime.
Download or read book Carmine the Snake written by Frank Dimatteo and published by Citadel Press. This book was released on 2018-08-28 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This true crime biography by a Mafia insider chronicles the hair-raising life of the notorious Colombo crime family boss. In the golden age of organized crime, Carmine “The Snake” Persico was the King of the Streets. The defacto boss of the Colombo Mafia family since the 1970s, he oversaw major rackets and legendary gang wars. Suspected of committing scores of murders and ordering hundreds more, he was sentenced to 139 years in federal prison. Yet even behind bars he continued to exert power over a vast criminal empire with the help of his brother, Alphonse "Allie Boy" Persico. In this blistering street-level account, “Mafia survivor” Frank Dimatteo teams up with veteran true-crime author Michael Benson to reveal the inside story of Carmine’s criminal career. Growing up on the mean streets of Brooklyn, Carmine got an early start as the leader of the fearsome Garfield Boys. He was recruited into the Profaci and Colombo crime families before his bloody betrayal of the Gallo brothers. This volume captures all the drama of Carmine’s infamous exploits—including his role in the ambush-slaying of Albert Anastasia—and the many courtroom trials where witnesses against him came down with sudden cases of amnesia.
Download or read book Gotti s Boys written by Anthony M. DeStefano and published by Citadel Press. This book was released on 2019-07-30 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A KILLER LINE-UP In his bloody reign as the head of the Gambino crime family, John Gotti wracked up a lifetime of charges from gambling, extortion, and tax evasion to racketeering, conspiracy, and five convictions of murder. He didn’t do it alone. Surrounding himself with a rogues gallery of contract killers, fixers, and enforcers, he built one of the richest, most powerful and violent crime empires in modern history. Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Anthony M. DeStefano takes you inside Gotti’s inner circle to reveal the dark hearts and murderous deeds of the most remorseless and cold-blooded characters in organized crime. Men so vicious even the other Mafia families were terrified of them. Meet Gotti’s Boys . . . * Charles Carneglia * Gene Gotti * Angelo “Quack-Quack” Ruggiero * Tony “Roach” Rampino * “Sammy the Bull” Gravano * Frank DeCicco * Vincent Artuso * Joe “The German” Watts * THE ULTIMATE MURDERER’S ROW “DeStefano explores John Gotti’s rise to the head of the Gambino family . . . Aficionados are sure to relish the finer, exhaustively researched details.” —Publishers Weekly “A thrilling ride . . . DeStefano has written another excellent biography of a memorable group of gangsters and an excellent addition to the history of the Teflon Don.” —Booklist
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 The Deadly Don written by Anthony M. DeStefano and published by Citadel Press. This book was released on 2021-05-25 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Pulizter Prize-winning journalist Anthony M. DeStefano’s latest in-depth history of organized crime exposes the truth behind the mafia crew that took down John Gotti. THE BOSS OF BOSSES Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Anthony M. DeStefano exposes the rise and fall of Vito Genovese in this first comprehensive biography of the legendary mafioso—from his childhood in Naples, Italy, and the beginnings of his bullet-ridden criminal career on lower Manhattan’s mean streets, through his self-exile in the mid-1930s back to his homeland where he ran a black market operation under the fascist regime of Benito Mussolini, and his return to New York where Genovese made a fortune as the head of an illegal narcotics empire. As a member of Giuseppe “Joe the Boss” Masseria’s gang in New York City, Genovese ran rackets before joining forces with Lucky Luciano, Frank Costello, Meyer Lansky, and Bugsy Siegel as bootleggers during Prohibition. He helped orchestrate Masseria’s slaughter on behalf of Brooklyn crime lord Salvatore Maranzano, consolidating his position and power before ensuring Maranzano, too, was knocked off. For the next three decades, Vito Genovese—shrewd, merciless, and utterly savage—killed countless gangsters in his bid to become the capo di tutti i capi—boss of bosses—in the American Mafia. Don Vito would betray some of the mafia’s most notorious bosses, including Albert Anastasia and Frank Costello, to eventually seize control of the Luciano crime family, one that still bears the Genovese name today. Praise for Anthony M. DeStefano’s Gotti’s Boys “DeStefano explores John Gotti’s rise to the head of the Gambino family . . . Aficionados are sure to relish the finer, exhaustively researched details.” —Publishers Weekly “A thrilling ride . . . DeStefano has written another excellent biography of a memorable group of gangsters and an excellent addition to the history of the Teflon Don.” —Booklist
Download or read book The Colombo Family written by Andy Petepiece and published by . This book was released on 2020-02-07 with total page 246 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Colombo Family The Colombo Family is a well-researched book on the nearly 100-year history of one of New York City's infamous La Cosa Nostra organizations. It begins with the USA arrival of Joe Profaci, the first Boss, and ends in the confusion of the passing of Boss Carmine Persico in 2019. Some of the essential events covered include the 1928 meeting of mobsters in Cleveland, the Castellammarese War of the early 1930s, the Apalachin fiasco of 1957, plus three Colombo Family rebellions. Boss Carmine Persico dominates the narrative as he retained control of the Family from the mid-1970s until 2019. It was an incredible feat for most of the time he was behind bars. The book includes profiles of many Acting Bosses that Persico appointed to carry out his wishes. Also provided are summaries of many mob trials that the reader will find interesting. Individual chapters contain information on some lesser-known characters, some of whom you hope you never meet. Most readers, familiar with La Cosa Nostra, will recognize many of the characters from this history. The book provides details on well-known hoods such as Joe Profaci, Joe Colombo, Carmine Persico, Joey Gallo, and Michael Franzese.
Download or read book Making Jack Falcone written by Joaquin 'Jack' Garcia and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2012-12-11 with total page 359 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At 6'4" and 375 pounds, Jack Garcia looked the part of a mobster, and he played his part so perfectly that his Mafia bosses never suspected he was an undercover agent for the FBI. 'Big Jack Falcone', as he was known inside La Cosa Nostra, learned all the inside dirt about the Gambino organized crime syndicate and its illegal activities - from extortion and loan-sharking to assault and murder. The result was a string of busts and a quarter of a million dollar contract put out on his life. A fascinating inside look at the struggle between law enforcement and organized crime, MAKING JACK FALCONE sheds new light on two organizational cultures that continue to exert an unparalled grip on our imagination.
Download or read book The Gotti Wars written by John Gleeson and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2022-05-03 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Riveting…an electrifying true crime story of the Mafia-smitten eighties and nineties. Suspenseful and multifaceted, The Gotti Wars can’t be missed.” —Esquire, The Best Nonfiction Books of the Year A “meticulous chronicle of good triumphing over evil” (The Washington Post) from the determined young prosecutor who, in two of America’s most celebrated trials, managed to convict famed mob boss John Gotti—and ultimately took down the Mafia altogether. John Gotti was without a doubt the flashiest and most feared Mafioso in American history. He became the boss of the Gambino Crime Family in spectacular fashion—with the brazen and very public murder of Paul Castellano in front of Sparks Steakhouse in midtown Manhattan in 1985. Not one to stay below law enforcement’s radar, Gotti instead became the first celebrity crime boss. His penchant for eye-catching apparel earned him the nickname “The Dapper Don;” his ability to beat criminal charges led to another: “The Teflon Don.” This is the captivating story of Gotti’s meteoric rise to power and his equally dramatic downfall. Every step of the way, Gotti’s legal adversary—John Gleeson, an Assistant US Attorney in Brooklyn—was watching. When Gotti finally faced two federal racketeering prosecutions, Gleeson prosecuted both. As the junior lawyer in the first case—a bitter seven-month battle that ended in Gotti’s acquittal—Gleeson found himself in Gotti’s crosshairs, falsely accused of serious crimes by a defense witness Gotti intimidated into committing perjury. Five years later, Gleeson was in charge of the second racketeering investigation and trial. Armed with the FBI’s secret recordings of Gotti’s conversations with his underboss and consigliere in the apartment above Gotti’s Little Italy hangout, Gleeson indicted all three. He “flipped” underboss Sammy the Bull Gravano, killer of nineteen men, who became history’s highest-ranking mob turncoat—resulting in Gotti’s murder conviction. Gleeson ended not just Gotti’s reign, but eventually that of the entire mob. A spellbinding, page-turning courtroom drama, The Gotti Wars “tells us in electrifying detail how the good guys finally won, how justice triumphed over evil, and how Gleeson himself was transformed by his long war” (Nelson DeMille).
Download or read book Mob Killer written by Anthony M. DeStefano and published by Citadel Press. This book was released on 2017-05-30 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Crazed Killer He dissolved the bodies of some of his victims in acid and poured them down the sewer. He hung grisly souvenirs on nails in his junkyard. La Costra Nostra Charles Carneglia was a stone-cold killer who fell in with the bloodthirsty John Gotti crew. As the infamous crime family rose to power with their murderous trail of sex, jealousy, greed, and revenge, Carneglia rose with them. Mafia, Madness And Murder This is the horrifying story of a misfit who fit perfectly into the New York mafia. In a harrowing journey inside a ruthless criminal underworld, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Anthony M. DeStefano chronicles one man's life in a world of depraved acts of violence and the horrors that went with being a member of the Gambino family. "Thrilling American crime writing." -Jimmy Breslin on King of the Godfathers Includes 16 Pages of Shocking Photos
Download or read book Mob Star The Story of John Gotti written by Gene Mustain and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2002-07-01 with total page 428 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: He was a little-known wiseguy out of Howard Beach, Queens, who blasted his way into the public eye with the assassination of Gambino Family boss Paul Castellano in December 1985, a rubout that’s the stuff of Mafia legend. Ruthless, cunning, and tougher than the streets that produced him, John Gotti seized control of the nation’s most powerful crime family, beat the law on rap after rap, and became an American legend. First published in 1988 and fully revised and updated for this edition, Mob Star traced John Gotti’s spectacular rise and eventual downfall after the betrayal of his closest ally, Salvatore “Sammy Bull” Gravano. At his death, ten years after he was jailed for life and four years after he began battling cancer, John Gotti was still the biggest name in today’s Mafia.
Download or read book A Man of Honor written by Joseph Bonanno and published by St. Martin's Paperbacks. This book was released on 2013-06-04 with total page 418 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Friendships, connections, family ties, trust, loyalty, obedience-this was the 'glue' that held us together." These were the principles that the greatest Mafia "Boss of Bosses," Joseph Bonnano, lived by. Born in Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily, Bonnano found his future amid the whiskey-running, riotous streets of Prohibition America in 1924, when he illegally entered the United States to pursue his dreams. By the age of only twenty-six, Bonnano became a Don. He would eventually take over the New York underworld, igniting the "Castellammarese War," one of the bloodiest Family battles ever to hit New York City... Now, in this candid and stunning memoir, Joe Bonanno-likely a model for Don Corleone in the blockbuster movie The Godfather-takes readers inside the world of the real Mafia. He reveals the inner workings of New York's Five Families-Bonanno, Gambino, Profaci, Lucchese, and Genovese-and uncovers how the Mafia not only dominated local businesses, but also influenced national politics. A fascinating glimpse into the world of crime, A Man of Honor is an unforgettable account of one of the most powerful crime figures in America's history.
Download or read book Sins of the Father written by Nick Taylor and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2012-01-31 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The true story of how Sal Polisi—a member of a New York crime family and author of The Sinatra Club—turned his back on the mob and spoke out against organized crime. As a wiseguy for some of New York’s biggest crime families, “Crazy Sal” Polisi couldn’t imagine another way of life—until the day he was busted and faced life behind bars. Then he decided it was time to talk, not so much for himself, but for the sake of his two teenaged sons. Forced to assume a new identity and moving from town to town in the middle of the night, his sons chose to stand by their father. In exchange for federal protection, Polisi took a huge gamble—he decided to testify against John Gotti, the reputed head of New York’s powerful Gambino family. As packed with shocking insider details as Nicholas Pileggi’s Wiseguy and as gripping as The Godfather—only true—Sal Polisi’s story marks his captivating transformation from ruthless criminal to devoted father and crusader against organized crime.
Download or read book The Origin of Organized Crime in America written by David Critchley and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2008-09-15 with total page 362 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Introduction -- Black hand, Calabrians, and the Mafia -- "First family" of the New York Mafia -- The Mafia and the Baff murder -- The neapolitan challenge -- New York City in the 1920s -- Castellammare war and "La Cosa Nostra" -- Americanization and the families -- Localism, tradition, and innovation.
