American Mafia : A History of Its Rise to Power

by Reppetto, Thomas

• ISBN13: 9780805072105
• ISBN10: 0805072101
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-01-06
• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.

Summary

Organized crime -- the Italian-American variety -- has long been a staple of popular entertainment. Now, Thomas Reppetto, coauthor of the highly praised NYPD, president of the New York City Citizens Crime Commission, and a former commander of detectives in Chicago, unravels a history of the Mafia's rise that separates fact from legend. Reppetto's vivid narrative describes how crime families from a variety of ethnic backgrounds were shaped by conditions in big cities in the late nineteenth century. Spurred by prohibition, which exploded opportunities for organized crime, men like Chicago's John Torrio and New York's Lucky Luciano built their organizations along corporate lines, parceling out territories and adopting rules for the arbitration of disputes. Good management and a tight organizational structure enabled Italian gangs to continue operations even when leaders were jailed or rubbed out.

Author Biography

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.

Table of Contents

Introduction: "The Most Secret and Terrible Organization in the World"	p. ix
"We Must Teach These People a Lesson": A Murder and Lynching in New Orleans	p. 1
A Place in the Sun: Italian Gangs of New York	p. 18
Italian Squads and American Carabinieri: Law Enforcement Wars on the Mafia	p. 36
Diamond Jim: Overlord of the Underworld	p. 54
In the Footsteps of Petrosino: Big Mike	p. 75
Prohibition: The Mobs Strike a Bonanza	p. 91
The "Get Capone" Drive: Print the Legend	p. 111
Lucky: The Rise and Rise of Charlie Luciano	p. 132
The Commission: The Mobs Go National	p. 148
Racket-Busting: The Dewey Days	p. 162
The Feds: Assessing the Menace of the Mafia	p. 181
Overreaching: Hollywood and Detroit	p. 198
The Prime Minister	p. 215
New Worlds to Conquer: Postwar Expansion	p. 234
TV's Greatest Hits: Senator Kefauver Presents the Mafia	p. 251
Epilogue: The Decline of the American Mafia	p. 270
Notes	p. 279
Bibliography	p. 291
Acknowledgments	p. 299
Index	p. 301
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

Excerpts

From American Mafia :

With the Lupo Morello gang now implicated in the barrel murder case, the investigation got going in earnest. The police had found a small crucifix, sawdust and cigar stubs, and a perfumed handkerchief with a note written in Italian. Police detective Petrosino translated the note as "come at once," suggesting that a woman had lured the victim to his death. An examination of the dead man's stomach revealed evidence of a recently consumed Sicilian meal. Familiar with Morello's restaurant-known for a floor littered with sawdust and cigar butts-Petrosino deduced that the victim had been killed there, and then taken by horse-drawn wagon to the Lower East Side. Yet he had no evidence to back up a murder charge in court: there was a surplus of defendants and a scarcity of evidence. The case was handled in the standard procedure of the day: arrest the suspects, then find the incriminating evidence. And, as often happened, the police came up short, despite the best efforts of the indomitable Petrosino.

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Excerpted from American Mafia: A History of Its Rise to Power by Thomas A. Reppetto
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.