Publication

2004 - Hodder & Stoughton

Language

English

Word Count

120,750 words, Guess

Page Count

483 pages

Physical Format

Hardcover

Identifiers

and 3 more
  • Library of Congress Control Number2004381437
  • Goodreads543792
  • LibraryThing153738

Classifications

  • LCCHV6453.I83 M32694

Description

From the mafia's origins in the 1860s to its current tense relationship with the Berlusconi government, this is a vivid and gripping history of the Sicilian Mafia's inner sanctum.

First Sentence

Palermo became an Italian city on 7 June 1860 when, under the terms of a ceasefire, two long columns of defeated troops snaked out from its eastern edges, and doubled back round outside the walls to await the ships that would ferry them home to Naples.

Excerpt

Palermo became an Italian city on 7 June 1860 when, under the terms of a ceasefire, two long columns of defeated troops snaked out from its eastern edges, and doubled back round outside the walls to await the ships that would ferry them home to Naples.

Description

"Cosa Nostra vividly reconstructs the stories of the men and women who have lived and died in the mafia's shadow. It explains how the mafia began, how it responds to threats and challenges and how it maintains its grip on the society where it was born. Cosa Nostra takes us inside the thought-processes of the mafia's leaders and foot soldiers, its friends and its foes. Its cast of characters includes Antonino Giammona, the first man with a claim to the title 'boss of bosses'; Emanuele Notarbartolo, the honest and courageous banker who in 1893 became the mafia's first 'eminent corpse'; New York cop Joe Petrosino who underestimated the Sicilian mafia and paid for this with his life, and Bernardo 'the Tractor' Provenzano, the current boss of bosses who has been in hiding in Sicily since 1963."--BOOK JACKET.

Subjects

Topics

MafiaItalySicilyGeneralHistoryHistoriaUnited States

Other Editions

  • Cosa Nostra: A History of the Sicilian MafiaHardcoverHodder & Stoughton2004-01-01
Show 7 more editions

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