
American Mafia
A History of Its Rise to Power
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Narrated by:
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Paul Costanzo
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By:
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Thomas Reppetto
About this listen
Organized crime - the Italian American kind - has long been a source of popular entertainment and legend. Now Thomas Reppetto provides a balanced history of the Mafia's rise - from the 1880s to the post-World War II era - that is as exciting 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 octopus-like tendency to infiltrate industry and government. At midcentury, 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.
©2004 Thomas Reppetto (P)2017 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
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Performance
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
John Gotti was without a doubt the flashiest and most feared Mafioso in American history. He became the boss of the Gambino Crime Family in spectacular fashion—with the brazen and very public murder of Paul Castellano in front of Sparks Steakhouse in midtown Manhattan in 1985. Not one to stay below law enforcement’s radar, Gotti instead became the first celebrity crime boss. His penchant for eye-catching apparel earned him the nickname “The Dapper Don;” his ability to beat criminal charges led to another: “The Teflon Don.”
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I spoke to soon.
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Midcentury Los Angeles: A city sold to the world as "the white spot of America", a land of sunshine and orange groves, Midwestern values, and Hollywood stars, protected by the world's most famous police force, the Dragnet-era LAPD. Behind this public image lies a hidden world of "pleasure girls" and crooked cops, ruthless newspaper tycoons, corrupt politicians, and East Coast gangsters on the make. Into this underworld came two men - one L.A.'s most notorious gangster, the other its most famous police chief - each prepared to battle the other for the soul of the city.
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A good (but a little corny) history of LA
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- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
John "Sonny" Franzese reportedly committed his first murder at the age of fourteen. As a "made man" for the Colombo crime family, he operated out of his Long Island home specializing in racketeering, fraud, and other illicit deeds he would deny to his dying day. His career in organized crime spanned over eight decades - and he was sentenced to fifty years in prison for robbery. This is the true story of an old-school Mafioso as it's never been told. Newsday reporter S. J. Peddie interviewed Franzese in prison and uncovered a lifetime of shocking secrets from the legend himself.
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Absolute BS
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The Five Families of New York
- 5 Books in 1: The Complete History of America's Notorious Mafia Organizations
- By: Mafia Library
- Narrated by: John Raynar, Lee Sterry, Daniel Winski, and others
- Length: 16 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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In "The Five Families of New York," Mafia Library presents a gripping account of the ascension and decline of New York's foremost crime syndicates, from the legendary Lucky Luciano to the notorious Paul Castellano and John Gotti, and beyond. Through vivid storytelling, the book chronicles the relentless assault waged against these five families over two decades, a campaign that stands as the most successful law enforcement effort of the last century.
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Excellent book
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By: Mafia Library
Critic reviews
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- Anonymous User
- 12-03-22
Full of new information
I’ve read a lot of books on the Cosa nostra, but this had a lot of things I had never heard before. It goes beyond the usual synopsis, and explains the influences behind the events that happened. One thing that particular interest is the first few chapters talk about the evolution of the Sicilian mafia, to provide an in-depth understanding of the influences behind the development of the American mafia. Along with “The Five Families” by Raab, this book is essential to understanding the development of the American phenomenon.
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- Thomas
- 02-14-23
Mob at its best
Great listen and very informative. Keeps you on the edge of what you thought you knew
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