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books tagged “mafia”
books tagged “mafia”
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American Mafia: A History Of Its Rise To Powerby Thomas ReppettoISBN 0805077987 (0-8050-7798-7)
Softcover, Henry Holt & Co
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› Find signed collectible books: 'American Mafia: A History Of Its Rise To Power'Book summary:"Reppetto's book earns its place among the best . . . he brings fresh context to a familiar story worth retelling." The New York Times Book Review[via]
Organized crimethe Italian American kindhas long been a source of popular entertainment and legend. Now Thomas Reppetto provides a balanced history of the Mafia's risefrom the 1880s to the post-WWII erathat 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 octopuslike 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.More editions of American Mafia: A History Of Its Rise To Power:
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Black Mass: The True Story of an Unholy Alliance Between FBI and the Irish Mobby Gerard O'Neill, Dick LehrISBN 0060959258 (0-06-095925-8)
Softcover, Perennial
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Black Mass: The True Story of an Unholy Alliance Between FBI and the Irish Mob'Book summary:In the spring of 1988, Boston Globe reporters Dick Lehr and Gerard O'Neill set out to write the story of two infamous brothers from the insular Irish enclave of South Boston: Jim "Whitey" Bulger and his younger brother Billy. Whitey was the city's most powerful gangster and a living legend--tough, cunning, without conscience, and above all, smart. Billy, president of the state Senate, was a political heavyweight in Massachusetts. These facts alone make for an intriguing story, but as Lehr and O'Neill found out, this was only the beginning.
John Connolly, a rising FBI agent and fellow "Southie," had known the Bulgers since boyhood when Whitey rescued him from a playground fight. After investigating organized crime in New York, Connolly was reassigned to the bureau's Boston office in 1975, and was determined to make a name for himself by relying on his old connections. He succeeded in a big way by lining up Whitey as an FBI informant in an effort to bring down the Italian Mafia--a major coup for both the FBI and Connolly. In exchange, Bulger received protection. Though heavily involved in extortion, intimidation, assassination, and drug trafficking, Connolly's "good bad guy" did not receive so much as a traffic infraction for over 20 years. In time, however, the deal changed, and information began flowing the other direction, with Bulger manipulating Connolly and a small group of corrupt FBI agents to further his nefarious network. The criminals and the lawmen eventually became virtually indistinguishable.
Black Mass expertly details the twists and turns of this complex story, painting a vivid portrait of Boston's underbelly and its inclusive political machine, as well as exposing one of the worst scandals in FBI history. It's also an examination of loyalty--to family, home, and heritage--and "a cautionary tale about the abuse of power that goes unchecked." As a final favor, Connolly tipped off Bulger that he was to be indicted on racketeering charges in 1995, allowing him time to go on the lam (he's reported to have access to secret bank accounts across the country). He was added to the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted List" in 1999. --Sharon M. Brown [via]
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Boss of Bosses: The Fall of the Godfather The FBI and Paul Castellanoby Joseph F. O'BrienISBN 0440212294 (0-440-21229-4)
Softcover, Bantam Books
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Casinoby Nicholas PileggiISBN 0671001604 (0-671-00160-4)
Softcover, Pocket Books
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Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegasby Nicholas PileggiISBN 0671665707 (0-671-66570-7)
Softcover, Simon & Schuster
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas'Book summary:The author of the best-selling Wiseguy gives us this true and brilliantly-told story of love, marriage, adultery, murder, revenge, and how it led to the Mafia's finally losing its stranglehold on the Las Vegas casinos. [via]
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Death & the Penguinby Andrey KurkovISBN 1860469450 (1-86046-945-0)
Softcover, Harvill Pr
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Death and the Penguinby Andrey Kurkov, George BirdISBN 1860468357 (1-86046-835-7)
Softcover, Random House
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Death and the Penguin'Book summary:The publication of Death and the Penguin, Andrey Kurkov's debut novel, heralds a unique new voice in post-soviet satire. Set in the Ukraine in the years immediately after the collapse of the Soviet Union, this dark, deadpan tale chronicles the journalistic career of Victor, who shares a flat with Misha, his depressed Penguin, rescued from the under-funded zoo in Kiev. Victor is asked to write obelisks, obituaries, for a prominent city paper about notable figures in the community, and quickly transforms himself from struggling writer to wealthy journalist. It soon becomes apparent that there is a more sinister motive at play, and Victor finds himself descending in a Kafkaesque realm of suspicion and unease.
This strange, thoughtful and gentle novel will leave the reader satisfied and perplexed at its conclusion. Kurkov seems to question whether Victor or the Penguin is lonelier and more out of place in his environment. The Death in the title is ever present, though not in an oppressive way, but this also makes one want to question Victor's belief that a long hard life is better than a quick death. Many comparisons will undoubtedly be made between Kurkov's novel and the writing of other authors from the former Soviet republics to make it to print in the United Kingdom. Certainly it's fair to say that this belongs to the tradition of Russian satire made well known in this country by writers such as Mikhail Bulgakov and Venedikt Yarofeev. It is also interesting to read this alongside the works of contemporaries such as Evgenev Popov and Viktor Pelevin. However, where Pelevin drifts off into the fantastical and esoteric, Kurkov keeps it deadpan and very real. It is important to remember that many of the strange events that occur in this book are grounded in fact: amals really were given away by Kiev zoo--truth is often stranger than fiction. --Iain Robinson [via]
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Donnie Brascoby Joseph D. PistoneISBN 0451192575 (0-451-19257-5)
Softcover, Signet
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Donnie Brasco'Book summary:In Donnie Brasco, FBI agent Joseph D. Pistone tells the story of working so deep undercover in the Mafia that the truth of his identity became blurry even for him. For six years, Pistone posed as jewel thief Donnie Brasco in order to pull off one of the most audacious sting operations ever. Because any small detail could blow his cover, Pistone adjusted his personality and habits to earn the trust of Mafia soldiers, connected guys, captains, and godfathers. He was so successful that many FBI surveillance teams assumed that he was yet another Mafia guy. This memoir paints a vivid portrait of the underworld of wise guys by revealing their code of honor, their treacherous dealings, their relationships with their wives and mistresses, and their lavish money habits. The suspense in Pistone's story builds as he unfurls his experience of life on the edge of good and evil and on the verge of death. [via]
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Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia A True Story by FBI Agentby Joseph D. Pistone, Richard WoodleyISBN 0451157494 (0-451-15749-4)
Softcover, New Amer Library
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia A True Story by FBI Agent'Book summary:In Donnie Brasco, FBI agent Joseph D. Pistone tells the story of working so deep undercover in the Mafia that the truth of his identity became blurry even for him. For six years, Pistone posed as jewel thief Donnie Brasco in order to pull off one of the most audacious sting operations ever. Because any small detail could blow his cover, Pistone adjusted his personality and habits to earn the trust of Mafia soldiers, connected guys, captains, and godfathers. He was so successful that many FBI surveillance teams assumed that he was yet another Mafia guy. This memoir paints a vivid portrait of the underworld of wise guys by revealing their code of honor, their treacherous dealings, their relationships with their wives and mistresses, and their lavish money habits. The suspense in Pistone's story builds as he unfurls his experience of life on the edge of good and evil and on the verge of death. [via]
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El Padrino / The Godfatherby Mario PuzoISBN 8466617434 (84-666-1743-4)
Softcover, Ediciones B
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› Find signed collectible books: 'El Padrino / The Godfather'Book summary:A searing evocation of the Mafia underworld and an instant classic, this novel introduced readers to the first family of American crime fiction, the Corleones, and the powerful legacy of tradition, blood, and honor that would be passed from father to son. With its exquisitely detailed characters who, despite leading unconventional lifestyles within a notorious crime family, experience the triumphs and failures of the human condition, and its themes of the seduction of power, the pitfalls of greed, and family allegiance, this is the definitive gangster novel.[via]More editions of El Padrino / The Godfather:
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Excellent Cadavers: The Mafia and the Death of the First Italian Republicby Alexander Stille, Sarah BurnesISBN 0679768637 (0-679-76863-7)
Softcover, Random House Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Excellent Cadavers: The Mafia and the Death of the First Italian Republic'Book summary:In 1992 Italy was convulsed by two brazen Mafia assassinations of high-ranking officials. The latest "excellent cadavers" were Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, the Sicilian magistrates who had been the Cosa Nostra's most implacable enemies. Yet in the aftermath of the murders, hundreds of "men of honor" were arrested and the government that ad protected them for nearly half a century was at last driven from office. This is the story that Stille tells with such insight and immediacy in Excellent Cadavers. Combining a profound understanding of his doomed heroes with and unprecedented look into the Mafia's stringent codes and murderous rivalries, he gives us a book that has the power of a great work of history and the suspense of a true thriller.
"Riveting...a well-paced and highly informative account stocked with well-drawn characters."--Philadelphia Inquirer
"Masterful...[Stille] delivers a stiletto-sharp portrait of the bloodthirsty Sicilian mafia."--Business Week [via]More editions of Excellent Cadavers: The Mafia and the Death of the First Italian Republic:
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The Familyby Mario Puzo, Carol GinoISBN 0061032425 (0-06-103242-5)
Softcover, Avon Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Family'Book summary:"We are a family," Alexander told his children. "And the loyalty of the family must come before everything and everyone else. For if we honor that commitment, we will never be vanquished -- but if we falter in that loyalty, we will all be condemned." [via]
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The Firmby John GrishamISBN 0385319053 (0-385-31905-3)
Softcover, Bantam Dell Pub Group
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Firm'Book summary:Book [via]
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The Firmby Robin Waterfield, PenguinISBN 0582418275 (0-582-41827-5)
Softcover, Prentice Hall
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Firm'Book summary:D.W. Moffett uses his youthful voice to outstanding effect in this excellent abridgment of Grisham's bestselling thriller about a Harvard Law grad aggressively recruited by a curiously obscure firm. "We're small and very selective... we screened over two thousand third-year law students at the best schools. Only one letter was sent." They've decided he's their man and to get him they offer top dollar, dangle a BMW, and woo his wife with offers impossible to refuse. But as the wide-eyed youngsters soon discover, there's a catch. Moffett gives an excellent performance, bringing the story to life with vibrant and believable characterizations and a smooth, knowing narrative. (Running time: 3 hours, 2 cassettes) --George Laney [via]
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Five Families: The Rise, Decline, And Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empiresby Selwyn RaabISBN 0312361815 (0-312-36181-5)
Softcover, St Martins Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Five Families: The Rise, Decline, And Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires'More editions of Five Families: The Rise, Decline, And Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires:
- Five Families: The Rise, Decline, And Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires: ISBN 0312300948 (0-312-30094-8)
Hardcover, Thomas Dunne Books - Five Families: The Rise, Decline, And Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires: ISBN 0312361815 (0-312-36181-5)
Softcover, St Martins Pr
- Five Families: The Rise, Decline, And Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires: ISBN 0312300948 (0-312-30094-8)
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Fools Dieby Mario PuzoISBN 0451160193 (0-451-16019-3)
Softcover, Signet
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Fools Die'Book summary:Hardback, ex-library, with usual stamps and markings, in good all round condition. [via]
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The Fortunate Pilgrimby Mario PuzoISBN 0345476727 (0-345-47672-7)
Softcover, Ballantine Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Fortunate Pilgrim'Book summary:Lucia Santa came to New York from the mountain farms of Italy because she knew there had to be a better life. But what she finds in the streets of Hell's Kitchen is a life to break a strong woman's heart. Two tragic marriages, six children to support by herself, a fiery-hearted daughter who insists on living and loving as an American, an oldest son who gets involved with the mafia. And through it all, Lucia Santa--wife, widow, mother, grandmother--endures as a woman of incomparable dignity, courage, and passion.
Filled with laughter and tears, fury and forgiveness, The Fortunate Pilgrim is a spellbinding portrait of a family determined to survive in America. It is a novel that only Mario Puzo could have written. [via]More editions of The Fortunate Pilgrim:
- The Fortunate Pilgrim: ISBN 0449003582 (0-449-00358-2)
Softcover, Random House Publishing Group - The Fortunate Pilgrim: ISBN 0553248596 (0-553-24859-6)
Softcover, Bantam Books - The Fortunate Pilgrim: ISBN 067945778X (0-679-45778-X)
Hardcover, Random House Publishing Group - The Fortunate Pilgrim: ISBN 0345476727 (0-345-47672-7)
Softcover, Ballantine Books
- The Fortunate Pilgrim: ISBN 0449003582 (0-449-00358-2)
Gangsterby Lorenzo CarcaterraISBN 0345425294 (0-345-42529-4)
Softcover, Ballantine Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Gangster'Book summary:It will come as no surprise to anyone who understands the derivative nature of filmmaking that Lorenzo Carcaterra's Gangster has been bought for a TV mini series. After all, how many times can you rerun all three parts of The Godfather? Here the author of Sleepers and Apaches provides a full accounting of the life of one Angelo Vestiere, told from the perspective of two people who witnessed it first hand: Gabe, the street kid who ultimately betrayed Angelo's hope that he would succeed him; and Mary, the woman who loved him. One knows a secret about the other, which isn't revealed until the book's final pages. But by that time the secret doesn't matter and sheds no more light on Angelo than the reader has gleaned in the previous chapters.
Angelo has few redeeming characteristics. As the protagonist of this sprawling novel of the rise of organised crime in America, he never earns the reader's empathy, despite Carcaterra's attempts to humanise his central character by presenting the "code of the gangster" as a believable rationale for Angelo's existence and his success in his chosen career. By far the more interesting thugs who people this book are Pudge, Angus McQueen and Ida the Goose, a trio of fellow gangsters the author pulls into Angelo's orbit. Despite their moral and ethical shortcomings, they are picaresque enough to have a certain raffish charm. But Angelo is no Don Corleone or even Tony Soprano. And while Carcaterra's a journeyman writer, he's not ready to inherit the mantle of the late (and in this case sadly lamented) Mario Puzo. --Jane Adams, Amazon.com [via]
The Godfatherby Mario PuzoISBN 0451167716 (0-451-16771-6)
Softcover, Signet
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Godfather'Book summary:The story of Don Vito Corleone, the head of a New York Mafia family, inspired some of the most successful movies ever. It is in Mario Puzo's The Godfather that Corleone first appears. As Corleone's desperate struggle to control the Mafia underworld unfolds, so does the story of his family. The novel is full of exquisitely detailed characters who, despite leading unconventional lifestyles within a notorious crime family, experience the triumphs and failures of the human condition. Filled with the requisite valor, love, and rancor of a great epic, The Godfather is the definitive gangster novel. [via]
More editions of The Godfather:
- The Godfather: ISBN 0451205766 (0-451-20576-6)
Softcover, New Amer Library - The Godfather: ISBN 0451217403 (0-451-21740-3)
Softcover, New Amer Library - The Godfather: ISBN 0399103422 (0-399-10342-2)
Hardcover, Putnam Pub Group - The Godfather: ISBN 0449234088 (0-449-23408-8)
Softcover, Ballantine Books - The Godfather: ISBN 0451208447 (0-451-20844-7)
Softcover, New Amer Library - The Godfather: ISBN 0816138753 (0-8161-3875-3)
Hardcover, Thorndike Pr - The Godfather: ISBN 0451167716 (0-451-16771-6)
Softcover, Signet
- The Godfather: ISBN 0451205766 (0-451-20576-6)
The Godfather Returnsby Mario Puzo, Mark WinegardnerISBN 0345478983 (0-345-47898-3)
Softcover, Ballantine Books
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The Godfather Returnsby Mark WinegardnerISBN 1400061016 (1-4000-6101-6)
Hardcover, Random House Publishing Group
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The Godfather's Revengeby Mark WinegardnerISBN 0399153845 (0-399-15384-5)
Hardcover, Putnam Pub Group
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The Gold Coastby Nelson DemilleISBN 0446360856 (0-446-36085-6)
Softcover, Grand Central Pub
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Gold Coast'Book summary:Welcome to the fabled Gold Coast, that stretch on the North Shore of Long Island that once held the greatest concentration of wealth and power in America. Here two men are destined for an explosive collision: John Sutter, Wall Street lawyer, holding fast to a fading aristocratic legacy; and Frank Bellarosa, the Mafia don who seizes his piece of the staid and unprepared Gold Coast like a latter-day barbarian chief and draws Sutter and his regally beautiful wife, Susan, into his violent world. Told from Sutter's sardonic and often hilarious point of view, and laced with sexual passion and suspense, The Gold Coast is Nelson DeMille's captivating story of friendship and seduction, love and betrayal. [via]
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Honor Thy Fatherby Gay TaleseISBN 0804110581 (0-8041-1058-1)
Softcover, Ballantine Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Honor Thy Father'Book summary:"Brilliant . . . Indispensable." Los Angeles Times
Here is the story of the rise and fall of the notorious Bonanno crime family of New York as only best-selling author Gay Talese could tell it. [via]More editions of Honor Thy Father:
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Joe Dogs: The Life and Crimes of a Mobsterby Joseph IannuzziISBN 0671797522 (0-671-79752-2)
Hardcover, Simon & Schuster
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Joe Dogs: The Life and Crimes of a Mobster'Book summary:A former mobster with the Gambino crime family describes life on the inside and discusses how he risked his life time and again as an FBI informant and star witness for five major trials. 100,000 first printing. [via]
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Joey the Hitmanby Clint WillisISBN 156025324X (1-56025-324-X)
Softcover, Thunder's Mouth Pr
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La Tapadera / The Firmby John GrishamISBN 840801997X (84-08-01997-X)
Softcover, Planeta Pub Corp
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The Last Donby Mario PuzoISBN 0345412214 (0-345-41221-4)
Softcover, Ballantine Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Last Don'Book summary:Mario Puzo, author of The Godfather, knows a thing or two about the Mafia and about the movie business; here he brings them together. In the prologue, a Mafia don oversees the double christening of two infant boys, Dante and Cross, into the Clericuzio family. Later, when Cross is tapped to take over as the "Hammer" of the Clericuzios, their prime hit man, he proves not cold-blooded enough for the role. Dante takes his place, and Cross moves from Las Vegas to Hollywood, which proves to be an even worse den of iniquity. When he falls for a movie star Athena Aquitaine, he exhibits the "fatal flaw" the old don always warned against: loving a beautiful woman. A taut novel of sex and money, of love and power. [via]
Los Borgiaby Mario PuzoISBN 8408048090 (84-08-04809-0)
Softcover, Planeta Pub Corp
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Mafia Dynastyby John H. DavisISBN 0061091847 (0-06-109184-7)
Softcover, Harpercollins
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Mafia Dynasty'Book summary:The author of The Kennedys traces the history of the Gambino crime family, from its beginnings in the 1920s through the recent conviction of John Gotti. By the author of Mafia Kingfish. 50,000 first printing. $40,000 ad/promo. Tour. [via]
Midnight in Sicilyby Peter RobbISBN 1860464653 (1-86046-465-3)
Softcover, Harvill Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Midnight in Sicily'Book summary:A journey into the heart of Sicily, using art, food, history and literature to shed light on southern Italy's legacy of political corruption and violent crime. The book takes as its starting point the ongoing trial of seven-times Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti. [via]
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Midnight in Sicily: On Art, Food, History, Travel, and LA Cosa Nostraby Peter RobbISBN 0375704582 (0-375-70458-2)
Softcover, Knopf Publishing Group
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Midnight in Sicily : On Art, Feed, History, Travel, and la Cosa Nostra'Book summary:[via]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.More editions of Midnight in Sicily: On Art, Food, History, Travel, and LA Cosa Nostra:
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Motherless Brooklynby Jonathan LethemISBN 0375724834 (0-375-72483-4)
Softcover, Random House Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Motherless Brooklyn'Book summary:Pop quiz. Please complete the following sentence: "There are days when I get up in the morning and stagger into the bathroom and begin running water and then I look up and I don't even recognize my own _." If you answered face, then your name is obviously not Jonathan Lethem. Instead of taking the easy out, the genre-busting novelist concludes this by-the-numbers string of words with toothbrush in the mirror.
This brilliant sentence and a lot of other really excellent ones compose Lethem's engaging fifth novel, Motherless Brooklyn. Lionel Essrog, a detective suffering from Tourette's syndrome, spins the narrative as he tracks down the killer of his boss, Frank Minna. Minna enlisted Lionel and his friends when they were teenagers living at Saint Vincent's Home for Boys, ostensibly to perform odd jobs (we're talking very odd) and over the years trained them to become a team of investigators. The Minna men face their most daunting case when they find their mentor in a Dumpster bleeding from stab wounds delivered by an assailant whose identity he refuses to reveal--even while he's dying on the way to the hospital.
Detectives? Brooklyn? Is this the same Lethem who danced the postapocalypso in Amnesia Moon? Incredibly, yes, and rarely has such a departure been pulled off with this much aplomb. As in the "toothbrush" passage above, Lethem sets himself up with the imposing task of making tired conventions new. Brooklyn accents? Fuggetaboutit. Lethem's dialogue is as light on its feet as a prize fighter. Lionel's Tourette's could have been an easy joke, but Lethem probes so convincingly into the disorder that you feel simultaneously rattled, sympathetic, and irritated by the guy. Sure, the story is a mystery, but Motherless Brooklyn could be about flower arranging, for all we care. What counts is Lionel's tic-ridden take on a world full of surprises, propelling this fiction forward at edgy, breakneck speed. --Ryan Boudinot [via]
Omertaby Mario PuzoISBN 0345432401 (0-345-43240-1)
Softcover, Ballantine Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Omerta'Book summary:Omerta, the third novel in Mario Puzo's Mafia trilogy, is infinitely better than the third Godfather film, and most movies in fact. Besides colorful characters and snappy dialogue, it's got a knotty, gratifying, just-complex-enough plot and plenty of movie-like scenes. The newly retired Mafioso Don Raymonde Aprile attends his grandson's confirmation at St. Patrick's in New York, handing each kid a gold coin. Long shot: "Brilliant sunshine etched the image of that great cathedral into the streets around it." Medium shot: "The girls in frail cobwebby white lace dresses, the boys [with] traditional red neckties knitted at their throats to ward off the Devil." Close-up: "The first bullet hit the Don square in the forehead. The second bullet tore out his throat."
More crucial than the tersely described violence is the emotional setting: a traditional, loving clan menaced by traditional vendettas. With Don Aprile hit, the family's fate lies in the strong hands of his adopted nephew from Sicily, Astorre. The Don kept his own kids sheltered from the Mafia: one son is an army officer; another is a TV exec; his daughter Nicole (the most developed character of the three) is an ace lawyer who liked to debate the Don on the death penalty. "Mercy is a vice, a pretension to powers we do not have ... an unpardonable offense to the victim," the Don maintained. Astorre, a macaroni importer and affable amateur singer, was secretly trained to carry on the Don's work. Now his job is to show no mercy.
But who did the hit? Was it Kurt Cilke, the morally tormented FBI man who recently jailed most of the Mafia bosses? Or Timmona Portella, the Mob boss Cilke still wants to collar? How about Marriano Rubio, the womanizing, epicurean Peruvian diplomat who wants Nicole in bed--did he also want her papa's head?
If you didn't know Puzo wrote Omerta, it would be no mystery. His marks are all over it: lean prose, a romance with the Old Country, a taste for olives in barrels, a jaunty cynicism ("You cannot send six billionaires to prison," says Cilke's boss. "Not in a democracy"), an affection for characters with flawed hearts, like Rudolfo the $1,500-an-hour sexual massage therapist, or his short-tempered client Aspinella, the one-eyed NYPD detective. The simultaneous courtship of cheery Mafia tramp Rosie by identical hit-man twins Frankie and Stace Sturzo makes you fall in love with them all--and feel a genuine pang when blood proves thicker than eros.
This fitting capstone to Puzo's career is optioned for a film, and Michael Imperioli of TV's The Sopranos narrates the audiocassette version of the novel. But why wait for the movie? Omerta is a big, old-fashioned movie in its own right. --Tim Appelo [via]
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The Outfit: The Role of Chicago's Underworld in the Shaping of Modern Americaby Gus RussoISBN 1582342792 (1-58234-279-2)
Softcover, Bloomsbury Pub Plc USA
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The Road to Perditionby Max Allen Collins, Bob Lappan, Richard Piers RaynerISBN 1563894491 (1-56389-449-1)
Softcover, Vertigo
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Road to Perdition'Book summary:Rock Island, Illinois -- 1929. Michael O'Sullivan is a good father and a family man -- and also the chief enforcer for John Looney, the town's Irish Godfather of crime. As Looney's "Angel of Death," O'Sullivan has done the bidding of Chicago gangsters Al Capone and Frank Nitti as well -- but when a gangland execution spells tragedy for the O'Sullivan family, a grieving father and his adolescent son find themselves on a winding road fo treachery, revenge, and revelation.
Writer Max Allan Collins is a two-time winner of the Private Eye Writers of America's Shamus Award for his Nathan Keller historical thrillers "True Detective" and "Stolen Away." Award-winning artist Richard Piers Raynner spent four years working on the artwork for "Road to Perdition," a labor of love that has resulted in some of the most stunningly realistic drawings of 1930s Chicago ever seen on printed page. [via]
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The Sicilianby Mario PuzoISBN 0345441702 (0-345-44170-2)
Softcover, Ballantine Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Sicilian'Book summary:Michael Corleone is returning to the U.S. after the two-year exile to Sicily in which reader left him in The Godfather. But he is ordered to bring with him the young Sicilian bandit, Salvatore Guiliano, who is the unofficial ruler of northwestern Sicily. In his fight "to make Sicilians free people," the young folk hero, based on the real-life Giuliano of the 1940's, has made both the police and the Mafia his enemies. So when Don Croce Malo, chief of the Sicilian Mafia, and the policemen who has been tracking Guiliano each offer to help Corleone find the elusive Robin Hood, betrayal seems inevitable. Mario Puzo has created a sequel to The Godfather that is every bit as compelling and dramatic. But The Sicilian is a distinct literary achievement in its historical inspiration and its vivid portrait of Sicilian peasant life. [via]
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Snow Crashby Neal StephensonISBN 0553380958 (0-553-38095-8)
Softcover, Bantam Dell Pub Group
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Snow Crash'Book summary:From the opening line of his breakthrough cyberpunk novel Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson plunges the reader into a not-too-distant future. It is a world where the Mafia controls pizza delivery, the United States exists as a patchwork of corporate-franchise city-states, and the Internet--incarnate as the Metaverse--looks something like last year's hype would lead you to believe it should. Enter Hiro Protagonist--hacker, samurai swordsman, and pizza-delivery driver. When his best friend fries his brain on a new designer drug called Snow Crash and his beautiful, brainy ex-girlfriend asks for his help, what's a guy with a name like that to do? He rushes to the rescue. A breakneck-paced 21st-century novel, Snow Crash interweaves everything from Sumerian myth to visions of a postmodern civilization on the brink of collapse. Faster than the speed of television and a whole lot more fun, Snow Crash is the portrayal of a future that is bizarre enough to be plausible. [via]
More editions of Snow Crash:
- Snow Crash: ISBN 0613361628 (0-613-36162-8)
Hardcover, Bt Bound - Snow Crash: ISBN 0553351923 (0-553-35192-3)
Softcover, Bantam Books - Snow Crash: ISBN 0553562614 (0-553-56261-4)
Softcover, Bantam Books - Snow Crash: ISBN 055308853X (0-553-08853-X)
Hardcover, Bantam Books - Snow Crash: ISBN 0553380958 (0-553-38095-8)
Softcover, Bantam Dell Pub Group
- Snow Crash: ISBN 0613361628 (0-613-36162-8)
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Son of the Mobby Gordon KormanISBN 0786807695 (0-7868-0769-5)
Hardcover, Disney Press
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Son of the Mob'Book summary:Vince Luca, 17, has a problem. His wealthy family runs the, uh, vending machine business in New York, and Vince is determined not to be part of it. Especially after a hot date is ruined when he finds that his older brother Tommy has conducted some business with Jimmy the Rat and hidden the messy and temporarily unconscious body in the trunk of Vince's car. His dad, the King of the Mob, is reasonable, sensible, lots of fun, gives great presents to his kids--and his name strikes the hearts of other mobsters to stone.
Although Vince keeps a low profile at school, his family connection brings him unwanted advantages, like the birthday Porsche that gets him arrested on stolen vehicle charges, or the football game in which he makes touchdown after touchdown because word has gotten around and nobody is willing to tackle him. Even private conversations at home have to be carried on in the basement because the FBI has bugged the house and an agent is always listening. Vince's life is inextricably tangled up with the family business, no matter how hard he tries to stay out of it. How can he show them he's serious? Then he meets Kendra, and when she innocently reveals that her father's an FBI agent--that FBI agent--it's a match made in heaven. He thinks.
Gordon Korman, author of (No More Dead Dogs) and over 30 other witty YA novels, is at his best in this Sopranos-style spoof about a teen's home life with the Mob. (Ages 12 and older) --Patty Campbell [via]
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Son Of The Mobby Korman GordonISBN 0786815930 (0-7868-1593-0)
Softcover, Disney Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Son Of The Mob'Book summary:Vince Luca, 17, has a problem. His wealthy family runs the, uh, vending machine business in New York, and Vince is determined not to be part of it. Especially after a hot date is ruined when he finds that his older brother Tommy has conducted some business with Jimmy the Rat and hidden the messy and temporarily unconscious body in the trunk of Vince's car. His dad, the King of the Mob, is reasonable, sensible, lots of fun, gives great presents to his kids--and his name strikes the hearts of other mobsters to stone.
Although Vince keeps a low profile at school, his family connection brings him unwanted advantages, like the birthday Porsche that gets him arrested on stolen vehicle charges, or the football game in which he makes touchdown after touchdown because word has gotten around and nobody is willing to tackle him. Even private conversations at home have to be carried on in the basement because the FBI has bugged the house and an agent is always listening. Vince's life is inextricably tangled up with the family business, no matter how hard he tries to stay out of it. How can he show them he's serious? Then he meets Kendra, and when she innocently reveals that her father's an FBI agent--that FBI agent--it's a match made in heaven. He thinks.
Gordon Korman, author of (No More Dead Dogs) and over 30 other witty YA novels, is at his best in this Sopranos-style spoof about a teen's home life with the Mob. (Ages 12 and older) --Patty Campbell [via]
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Son of the Mob: Hollywood Hustleby Gordon KormanISBN 0786809191 (0-7868-0919-1)
Softcover, Disney Pr
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Underboss: Sammy the Bull Gravano's Story of Life in the Mafiaby Peter MaasISBN 0060930969 (0-06-093096-9)
Softcover, Harpercollins
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Underboss: Sammy the Bull Gravano's Story of Life in the Mafia'More editions of Underboss: Sammy the Bull Gravano's Story of Life in the Mafia:
- Underboss: Sammy the Bull Gravano's Story of Life in the Mafia: ISBN 0061096644 (0-06-109664-4)
Softcover, Harpercollins - Underboss: Sammy the Bull Gravano's Story of Life in the Mafia: ISBN 0060182563 (0-06-018256-3)
Hardcover, Harpercollins - Underboss: Sammy the Bull Gravano's Story of Life in the Mafia: ISBN 0060930969 (0-06-093096-9)
Softcover, Harpercollins
- Underboss: Sammy the Bull Gravano's Story of Life in the Mafia: ISBN 0061096644 (0-06-109664-4)
The Valachi Papersby Peter MaasISBN 006050742X (0-06-050742-X)
Softcover, Perennial
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Wiseguyby Nicholas PileggiISBN 0671723227 (0-671-72322-7)
Softcover, Pocket Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Wiseguy'Book summary:"At the age of twelve my ambition was to become a gangster. To be a wiseguy. Being a wiseguy was better than being President of the United States. To be a wiseguy was to own the world." -- Henry Hill Wiseguy is Nicholas Pileggi's remarkable bestseller, the most intimate account ever printed of life inside the deadly high-stakes world of what some people call the Mafia. Wiseguy is Henry Hill's story, in fascinating, brutal detail, the never-before-revealed day-to-day life of a working mobster -- his violence, his wild spending sprees, his wife, his mistresses, his code of honor. Henry Hill knows where a lot of bodies are buried, and he turned Federal witness to save his own life. The mob is still hunting him for what he reveals in Wiseguy: hundreds of crimes including arson, extortion, hijacking, and the $6 million Lufthansa heist, the biggest successful cash robbery in U.S. history, which led to ten murders. A firsthand account of the secret world of the mob, Wiseguy is more compelling than any novel. [via]
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Wiseguy: The Rise and Fall of a Mobsterby Nicholas PileggiISBN 0671447343 (0-671-44734-3)
Hardcover, Simon & Schuster, Limited
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Wiseguy: The Rise and Fall of a Mobster'Book summary:Nicholas Pileggis vivid, unvarnished, journalistic chronicle of the life of Henry Hillthe working-class Brooklyn kid who knew from age twelve that to be a wiseguy was to own the world, who grew up to live the highs and lows of the gangsters lifehas been hailed as the best book ever written on organized crime (Cosmopolitan).
This is the true-crime bestseller that was the basis for Martin Scorseses film masterpiece GoodFellas, which brought to life the violence, the excess, the families, the wives and girlfriends, the drugs, the payoffs, the paybacks, the jail time, and the Feds . . . with Henry Hills crackling narration drawn straight out of Wiseguy and overseeing all the unforgettable action.
Read it and experience the secret life inside the mobfrom one whos lived it.
Now with an introduction by Martin Scorcese. [via]
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Spanish
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Huerfanos De Brooklyn/ Motherless Brooklynby Jonathan LethemISBN 849793296X (84-9793-296-X)
Softcover, Debolsillo
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Huerfanos De Brooklyn/ Motherless Brooklyn'More editions of Huerfanos De Brooklyn/ Motherless Brooklyn:
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El Padrinoby Mario PuzoISBN 8466604359 (84-666-0435-9)
Softcover, Ediciones B
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› Find signed collectible books: 'El Padrino'Book summary:More than thirty years ago, a classic was born. A searing evocation of the Mafia underworld, this novel introduced readers to the first family of American crime fiction, the Corleones, and the powerful legacy of tradition, blood, and honor that would be passed on from father to son. The novel stands out due to its exquisitely detailed characters who, despite leading unconventional lifestyles within a notorious crime family, experience the triumphs and failures of the human condition. With its themes of the seduction of power, the pitfalls of greed, and family allegiance, this is the definitive gangster novel.[via]More editions of El Padrino:
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El Padrino / The Godfatherby Mario Puzo, Angel ArnauISBN 8466304479 (84-663-0447-9)
Softcover, Santillana USA Pub Co Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'El Padrino / The Godfather'Book summary:Vito Corleone is the most respected Don of New York. He is merciless with his rivals, but also intelligent, astute and faithful to honor and friendship. His life and businesses, as well as those of his son and heir, make up the storyline of this masterpiece. With the publication of The Godfather, for the first time the Mafia was portrayed from the inside. Later, Puzo himself would write the scripts for the famous trilogy of Francis Ford Coppola.
Description in Spanish:
Vito Corleone es el Don más respetado de Nueva York, ciudad a la que llegó como emigrante desde su Sicilia natal a los doce años. Don Corleone es implacable con sus rivales, pero es también un hombre inteligente, astuto y fiel a los principios del honor y la amistad. La vida y negocios de Don Corleone, así como los de su hijo y heredero, conforman el eje de esta obra maestra.
La publicación de El Padrino en 1969 supuso una convulsión en el mundo literario, pues por primera vez la Mafia aparecía novelada desde su interior; presentada como una compleja contrasociedad con una cultura, unas interrelaciones y unas jerarquías comúnmente aceptadas. Posteriormente, el propio Puzo escribiría los guiones de la famosa trilogía de películas de Francis Ford Coppola. [via]
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El Ultimo Donby Mario PuzoISBN 8466305858 (84-663-0585-8)
Softcover, Santillana USA Pub Co Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'El Ultimo Don'Book summary:The story of the last great family of the Mafia, the Clericuzio. A year after committing the crime of his life, Don Domenico, the last Don, decides the new generation should live free of criminal doings.
Description in Spanish:
Ésta es la historia de la última gran familia de la Mafia, los Clericuzio. Un año después de cometer el acto más salvaje de su vida, Don Domenico, el último Don, decide que la nueva generación, la de sus nietos recién bautizados, viva libre de la carga criminal de la Mafia. Desde su espectacular jardín de Long Island, el Don controla negocios de Las Vegas y de Hollywood con los que puede legitimar su fortuna. Sin embargo, hay dos problemas que el Don no puede ignorar. Primero, sólo hay una cosa que la familia Clericuzio sepa hacer bien: matar. Y segundo, que el mundo ya no es tan sencillo: existe el honor entre ladrones y maldad entre hombres supuestamente honorables. [via]
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French
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La Firme / the Firmby John GrishamISBN 2266056921 (2-266-05692-1)
Softcover, Distribooks Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'La Firme / the Firm'Book summary:Le jeune juriste Mitchell Y. McDeere est récompensé de ses brillantes études à Harvard : à Memphis, le très sélect cabinet d'avocats Bendini, Lambert & Locke lui offre un véritable pont d'or pour l'engager. Son épouse Abby est ravie, même si la firme semble bien indiscrète sur leur vie privée et si Mitch doit travailler comme un forcené pour mériter son salaire mirobolant. Les choses se gâtent quand des collaborateurs meurent mystérieusement et qu'un agent du FBI apprend au jeune homme la terrifiante vérité sur les véritables activités du cabinet d'avocats. Il semble que l'on ne sorte de chez Bendini, Lambert & Locke que les pieds devant. Mitch devra courir vite pour sauver sa vie...
Incarné au cinéma par Tom Cruise dans La Firme, le personnage de Mitch McDeere est celui qui a révélé John Grisham au grand public. Vendu à plus de trois millions d'exemplaires aux États-Unis, ce roman a permis à l'auteur d'arrêter sa carrière de juriste pour se consacrer à l'écriture de best-sellers, comme L'Affaire Pélican, L'Associé, L'Idéaliste, Le Testament, La Loi du plus faible. Un suspense mené de main de maître. --Bruno Ménard [via]
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Italian
Storia Della Mafia: Dall'onorata Societa a Cosa Nostra, Sull'itinerario Sicilia-America-Mondo, La Ricostruzione Critica Di Uno Dei Piu Inquietanti Fenomeni Del Nostro Tempo E Delle Eroiche Lotte per Combatterloby Giuseppe Carlo MarinoISBN 8882890074 (88-8289-007-4)
Hardcover, Newton & Compton
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Storia Della Mafia: Dall'onorata Societa a Cosa Nostra, Sull'itinerario Sicilia-America-Mondo, La Ricostruzione Critica Di Uno Dei Piu Inquietanti Fenomeni Del Nostro Tempo E Delle Eroiche Lotte per Combatterlo'More editions of Storia Della Mafia: Dall'onorata Societa a Cosa Nostra, Sull'itinerario Sicilia-America-Mondo, La Ricostruzione Critica Di Uno Dei Piu Inquietanti Fenomeni Del Nostro Tempo E Delle Eroiche Lotte per Combatterlo:
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