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Mafia: The History of the Mob
by
This book is about extraordinary men who lived through extraordinary times. The History of the Mob tells the stories of their lives, their families, their code, their crimes, and their cold-blooded murders—from Don Vito Cascio Ferro, the New York mobster who lured Joe Petrosino to his death in Palermo, to John Gotti, “the Teflon don” and Bernardo “the Tractor” Provenzano,
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Paperback, 384 pages
Published
September 1st 2012
by Arcturus Publishing Limited
(first published January 7th 2011)
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This is an interesting book about the history of the mafia. Given the fact that the mafia has a long history and this book has around 300 pages the story feels quite rushed. It's history concers a great number of families in great many countries so a more in depth book about them should certainly have more pages. The writing style was very engaging and the pictures were a great addition.
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This is a very good book about whole history of Mafia, from begginings to the demise of once powerfull organisation. There are lots of interesting facts, anecdotes and mafia personalities but book sometimes feels rushed and sometimes I found it hard to fallow who, when and where (autor usses so many names that I couldt keep track sometimes). Owerall it is an interesting book.

Comprehensive
Until you read this book you'll be unaware of the sheer scope and power of these people. Scary from start to finish. ...more
Until you read this book you'll be unaware of the sheer scope and power of these people. Scary from start to finish. ...more

This book is a factual account of the birth, rise and finally the demise of the Mafia. It is very to the point and rushed, considering the author wanted to cover the entire history in around 400 pages. There are so many interesting Dons, that I think, a book can be easily dedicated to the life of each Don. There are books, of course, inspired by some already (The Godfather, Al Copone), but a proper series can be written. It would be really difficult due to the Omerta, but, it would be really int
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I’m not sure why, but since I was a kid, I have wanted to find some redeeming quality about The Mafia. If you are like me, you actually will find a couple of redeeming stories about The Mafia, in this book. Yeah, it’s difficult to believe, since these guys are ruthless criminals. You have to read about the 80% of nastiness and disgust to also read about the 10% of redeemable things done by The Mafia. I think this book is an honest account about The Mafia.

An interesting book that covers the history of the Sicilian Mafia from the 18th to 20th century. It seems a bit light on some some details and doesn't really go into depth about anything in particular. This is understandable as a full, in-depth history would take up a small library's worth of books.
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Nov 01, 2013
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J'ai lu la version française de ce livre. Mafia, La véritable histoire du crime organisé. C’est très intéressant, mais je confondais les gens avec tous les noms italiens qui se ressemblent. Mon chapitre préféré est sans aucun doute celui sur Al Capone et la guerre de gangs qu’il a menée à Chicago.
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Nigel Cawthorne is an Anglo-American writer of fiction and non-fiction, and an editor. He has written more than 80 books on a wide range of subjects and has contributed to The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph Daily Mail and The New York Times. He has appeared on television and BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
Many of Nigel Cawthorne's books are compilations of popular history, without footnotes, referen ...more
Many of Nigel Cawthorne's books are compilations of popular history, without footnotes, referen ...more
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