AMERICAN MAFIA: A History of Its Rise to Power (John MacRae Books)

Reppetto, Thomas

ISBN 10: 0805072101 / ISBN 13: 9780805072105

Published by Henry Holt and Co., New York, New York, U.S.A., 2004

About this Item

Organized crime¿the Italian American kind¿has long been a source of popular entertainment and legend. Now Thomas Reppetto provides a balanced history of the Mafia's rise¿from the 1880s to the post-WWII era¿that is as exciting and readable as it is authoritative. `Structuring his narrative around a series of case histories featuring such infamous characters as Lucky Luciano and Al Capone, Reppetto draws on a lifetime of field experience and access to unseen documents to show us a locally grown Mafia. It wasn't until the 1920s, thanks to Prohibition, that the Mafia assumed what we now consider its defining characteristics, especially its octopus-like tendency to infiltrate industry and government. At mid-century the Kefauver Commission declared the Mafia synonymous with Union Siciliana; in the 1960s the FBI finally admitted the Mafia's existence under the name La Cosa Nostra. AMERICAN MAFIA is a fascinating look at America's most compelling criminal subculture from an author who is intimately acquainted with both sides of the street. 318 pp, with Index.As new, first edition, first printing, in fine, mylar-protected dust jacket. {Not remainder-marked or price-clipped} NF69.

Seller Inventory # 023126

Bibliographic Details

• Title: AMERICAN MAFIA: A History of Its Rise to Power (John MacRae Books)
• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co., New York, New York, U.S.A.
• Publication Date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0805072101
• ISBN 13: 9780805072105
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Printing: 1st Printing
• Condition: As New
• Dust Jacket Condition: Fine

About this title

Synopsis

A history of the rise of the Mafia in the world of crime and in the mainstream American political and economic life

Organized crime-the Italian American kind-has long been a source of popular entertainment and legend. Now, Thomas Reppetto provides a balanced history of the Mafia's rise-from the 1880s to the post-WWII era-that is as exciting and readable as it is authoritative.

Structuring his narrative around a series of case histories featuring such infamous characters as Lucky Luciano and Al Capone, Reppetto draws on a lifetime of field experience and access to unseen documents to show us a locally grown Mafia. The Italian American crime families were shaped by conditions in big cities, but it wasn't until the 1920s, thanks to prohibition, that the Mafia assumed what we now consider its defining characteristics, especially its octopus-like tendency to infiltrate industry and government. At mid-century the Kefauver Commission declared the Mafia synonymous with Union Siciliana; in the 1960s the FBI finally admitted the Mafia's existence under the name La Cosa Nostra.

American Mafia is a fascinating look at America's most compelling criminal subculture from an author who is intimately acquainted with both sides of the street.

About the Author

Thomas Reppetto is a former Chicago commander of detectives and has been the president of New York City's Citizens Crime Commission for more than twenty years. He is the author of NYPD: A City and Its Police, a New York Times Notable Book. He lives in New York City.