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.

She may have had a soap opera private life, which included a very public marriage and breakup with George Jones, among other things, but Tammy Wynette still managed to turn out 17 number one singles during the late '60s and early '70s, the classics "Stand by Your Man," "D-I-V-O-R-C-E," and "Bedtime Story" being just three of them, each of which is compiled in this two-disc set of essential tracks. ~ Steve Leggett

Stunning photographs illuminate the bloody story of the first 150 years. This is the story of the Cosa Nostra: from its origins in Sicily in 1863, through the great wave of Italian immigration to America, to prohibition and the formation of the first mafia families, and to the harsh realities of fascism and the postwar years in Italy where the Cosa Nostra thrived. The image of the mafioso as a “man of honor”—good to the weak, above the laws of the state but subject to a precise code—was firmly rooted in the collective imagination until the 1980s when light was shed on the structure of the vast organization, its unsavory objectives, and the cold-blooded strategies behind its actions. Culled from thousands of archival images, more than 250 photographs and detailed captions tell the story not only of the criminals who have entered popular legend but also of the people who have been victims of the mafia: the judges, police officers, and private citizens who fought back.

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").

"I love you, Max Butcher." Those words are dangerous. Just about as dangerous as the world I was born into. As dangerous as the ruthless bastards that I call family. They hurt her. My. Little. Ballerina. . . My piece of purity. They hurt her. . . I wanted to keep the world beautiful for her. I failed. So I should let her go. For her own safety and my sanity. But she crawled into my bed. Settled in my head. Cassidy Slater. Her sweet-talking mouth says those dangerous words. Words I didn't know that I craved. She waits for me at night. Accepts the darkness around me. Now that's not something a man just lets go of. I'm a selfish bastard too. And she's mine. I'll protect her; it's an eye for an eye and I'm willing to blind the whole damn lot of them. For her, I'll start a damn war. - - Cosa Nostra is the second installment to Our Thing - Max & Cassidy's story. This book features a powerful and moody hero and an endearing and determined heroine. Both main characters are possessive and fight for each other. It is a love story first. Word steam second. Violence, gore, and drama third. Enjoy.

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.

A New York Times Book Review Notable Book of the Year A New York Public Library Best Book of the Year From the author of M and A Death in Brazil comes Midnight in Sicily. South of mainland Italy lies the island of Sicily, home to an ancient culture that--with its stark landscapes, glorious coastlines, and extraordinary treasure troves of art and archeology--has seduced travelers for centuries. But at the heart of the island's rare beauty is a network of violence and corruption that reaches into every corner of Sicilian life: Cosa Nostra, the Mafia. Peter Robb lived in southern Italy for over fourteen years and recounts its sensuous pleasures, its literature, politics, art, and crimes.

Jones recounts his four-year voyage across the Italian peninsula where, instead of the pastoral bliss he expected, he discovers unfathomable terrorism and deep-seated paranoia.

The first book to fully document the scandal-riddled rise and fall of Italy's Prime Minister and tabloid star—Silvio Berlusconi

How do mafias work? How do they recruit people, control members, conduct legal and illegal business, and use violence? Why do they establish such a complex mix of rituals, rules, and codes of conduct? And how do they differ? Why do some mafias commit many more murders than others? This book makes sense of mafias as organizations, via a collative analysis of historical accounts, official data, investigative sources, and interviews. Catino presents a comparative study of seven mafias around the world, from three Italian mafias to the American Cosa Nostra, Japanese Yakuza, Chinese Triads, and Russian mafia. He identifies the organizational architecture that characterizes these criminal groups, and relates different organizational models to the use of violence. Furthermore, he advances a theory on the specific functionality of mafia rules and discusses the major organizational dilemmas that mafias face. This book shows that understanding the organizational logic of mafias is an indispensable step in confronting them.