Good books about organized crime?

[Os Cangaceiros]

Specifically the Mafia (La Cosa Nostra)? Has anyone read any?

I've been a little interested in the subject lately.

[Cymru]

Mate I've got plenty to recomend. Any particular family/location or time period your interested in?

[Os Cangaceiros]

Not really any time period/family in particular, just a basic history of the Italian Mafia in the U.S. :)

[Cymru]

Well the best general book about the Mafia has to be The Five Families, Selwyn Raab. I couldn't recommend this enough!

My favorite book is A Man of Honor, the autobiography of Joe Bonanno. A very personal inside look in to the mafia and the commission from the thirties to the sixties.

Others:

Made Men, Greg Smith - A look into the New Jersey family (plenty of Sopranos references in this one)
Gangbusters, Ernest Volkman - The fall of the Luchesse Family
Bringing down the Mob, Thomas Reppeto - About the decline of the Mob in general from NY to Atlantic City to Las Vegas and Chicago (a lot of focus on Hoffa and the unions)
Underboss, Peter Mass - Biography of Sammy Gravano
Gaspipe, Philip Carlo -The confession of Gaspipe Casso (very good book)
The Outfit, Gus Russo - The Chicago Mob
The Valachi Papers, Peter Maas - The words of Joe Valachi, the first major informant. Good accounts of the olden days and the setting up of the Commision
The Last Godfather, Simon Crittle - The rise and fall of Massino (head of the Bonanno family)
Murder Machine, Jerry Capeci - The story of Capo Roy DeMeo and his contract killers
The Ice Man, Philip Carlo - Thrilling read, not so much about the Mafia more general OC. Richard Kuklinski was a contract killer who worked with Roy DeMeo
Mafia Dynasty, John Davies - The first ever mafia book I read when I was 14. Focuses on the Gambino Family

Not forgetting Donnie Brasco, the book goes into far more detail than the film.
Then there's Goodfellas which is a half decent read...

[x359594]

For the Mafia's connections to fascism take a look at All the Right Enemies: the Life and Murder of Carlo Tresca (1988) by Dorothy Gallagher.

For a cross-cultural comparison there's Yakuza: Japan's Criminal Underworld by David E. Kaplan and Alec Dubro. Once again organized crime has ties to the far right and in Japan often functions as enforcer for certain right wing politicians. The book was banned in Japan when it came out.

[ComradeOm]

No mention of Mario Puzo? ;)

[Vanguard1917]

No mention of Mario Puzo? ;)

Hmm. The Godfather was one of the first 'grown-up' novels i read and appreciated as a kid. But i get the feeling the OP's looking for non-fictional accounts (as non-fictional as you can get with books on the Mafia, of course -- legend and saga are part of what makes the Mafia so fascinating).



Then there's Goodfellas which is a half decent read...


Wasn't the book called Wiseguy?

[which doctor]

They have nothing to do with the traditional Italian mafia, but you may want to check out Sudhir Venkatesh (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudhir_Venkatesh) and his work on gangs and the underground economy on the south side of chicago.
I've only ever read Off the Books: the underground economy of the urban poor (http://www.amazon.com/Off-Books-Underground-Economy-Urban/dp/0674030710/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1271288243&sr=8-1) but you may also want to check out Gang Leader for a Day: a rogue sociologist takes to the streets (http://www.amazon.com/Gang-Leader-Day-Sociologist-Streets/dp/014311493X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1271288247&sr=8-1). They're really fascinating.

[Cymru]

Wasn't the book called Wiseguy?

Yeah I think originally , but the edition I got is with the movie stars on the front and the name as Goodfellas. A clear attempt to suck in the movie fans....like myself :lol:

[Os Cangaceiros]

Well the best general book about the Mafia has to be The Five Families, Selwyn Raab. I couldn't recommend this enough!

My favorite book is A Man of Honor, the autobiography of Joe Bonanno. A very personal inside look in to the mafia and the commission from the thirties to the sixties.

Others:

Made Men, Greg Smith - A look into the New Jersey family (plenty of Sopranos references in this one)
Gangbusters, Ernest Volkman - The fall of the Luchesse Family
Bringing down the Mob, Thomas Reppeto - About the decline of the Mob in general from NY to Atlantic City to Las Vegas and Chicago (a lot of focus on Hoffa and the unions)
Underboss, Peter Mass - Biography of Sammy Gravano
Gaspipe, Philip Carlo -The confession of Gaspipe Casso (very good book)
The Outfit, Gus Russo - The Chicago Mob
The Valachi Papers, Peter Maas - The words of Joe Valachi, the first major informant. Good accounts of the olden days and the setting up of the Commision
The Last Godfather, Simon Crittle - The rise and fall of Massino (head of the Bonanno family)
Murder Machine, Jerry Capeci - The story of Capo Roy DeMeo and his contract killers
The Ice Man, Philip Carlo - Thrilling read, not so much about the Mafia more general OC. Richard Kuklinski was a contract killer who worked with Roy DeMeo
Mafia Dynasty, John Davies - The first ever mafia book I read when I was 14. Focuses on the Gambino Family

Not forgetting Donnie Brasco, the book goes into far more detail than the film.
Then there's Goodfellas which is a half decent read...

Thanks a lot!


For the Mafia's connections to fascism take a look at All the Right Enemies: the Life and Murder of Carlo Tresca (1988) by Dorothy Gallagher.

For a cross-cultural comparison there's Yakuza: Japan's Criminal Underworld by David E. Kaplan and Alec Dubro. Once again organized crime has ties to the far right and in Japan often functions as enforcer for certain right wing politicians. The book was banned in Japan when it came out.

Carlo Tresca is actually one of my favorite (mostly) forgotten figures in anarchist history. He led a very impressive and admirable life, from the little I've read about him. I should probably check that out.

I'm also kind of interested in the yakuza, but I think that comes from watching too many Takashi Miike films. :blink:


They have nothing to do with the traditional Italian mafia, but you may want to check out Sudhir Venkatesh (http://www.anonym.to/?http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudhir_Venkatesh) and his work on gangs and the underground economy on the south side of chicago.
I've only ever read Off the Books: the underground economy of the urban poor (http://www.anonym.to/?http://www.amazon.com/Off-Books-Underground-Economy-Urban/dp/0674030710/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1271288243&sr=8-1) but you may also want to check out Gang Leader for a Day: a rogue sociologist takes to the streets (http://www.amazon.com/Gang-Leader-Day-Sociologist-Streets/dp/014311493X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1271288247&sr=8-1). They're really fascinating.

I think I've heard of that guy...don't they mention him in Freakonomics? I read that book a pretty long time ago, but I seem to remember them mentioning him in the part where they talk about why most crack dealers are poor (in spite of the fact that you'd think that they'd make a bunch of money from dealing drugs).

[x359594]

...Carlo Tresca is actually one of my favorite (mostly) forgotten figures in anarchist history. He led a very impressive and admirable life, from the little I've read about him. I should probably check that out...

Two more books about Carlo Tresca, both by Nunzio Pernicone (author of Italian Anarchism,) are Portrait of a Rebel (2005) and The Autobiography of Carlo Tresca (2003) (Pernicone is the editor of this one.)

[MarxSchmarx]

If you are interested in the history of global organized crime, I would definitely recommend Misha Glenny's "McMafia". He goes everywhere from Bulgaria to India to British Columbia and names names, it's very well researched.




I'm also kind of interested in the yakuza, but I think that comes from watching too many Takashi Miike films. :blink:


There are several good books on the Yakuza in English. Adelstein's "Tokyo Vice"
is written by a former reporter for a major Japanese newspaper who was on the Yakuza beat and he apparently now lives in hiding in America or something.

[The Vegan Marxist]

Any book that sympathizes with Capitalism is a book on organized crime to me.

[Pawn Power]

The COINTELPRO Papers: Documents from the FBI's Secret Wars Against Dissent in the United States

Extreme organized crime- targeted assassination, conspiracy, etc.