Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires

by Selwyn Raab

Book Overview

The New York Times bestseller chronicling the history of NYC's infamous five mafia families is now the basis for the upcoming The HISTORY(R) Channel documentary series American Godfathers: The Five... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312361815
• Release Date: September 2006
• Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
• Length: 785 Pages
• Weight: 2.08 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.2" x 2.3" x 6.1"

Customer Reviews

Huge book very informative

I know I might be breaking omerta but, If you want to learn about the mob , this is the book for you. It tells you pretty much everything about each family. A huge book but worth the read.

Worth the time to read this huge book

I really enjoyed this history of the five New York Mafia families. It is very well written. It is a very lengthy book but if you have any interest in the Mafia you will not care. I would recommend this to anyone who wants to get an overview of the Mafia's history and how their "rackets" work. Saab also does an excellent job of giving the good guys (the cops and prosecutors) the attention they deserve. Usually they are merely mentioned by other authors but Saab makes them as interesting as the mafioso.

Mob's 80-Year Influence Chronicled

Beginning with the Sicilian origins of the Mafia, Selwyn Raab explains how it spread from its New York origins to cities across America. Raab, a newspaper and television reporter with more than 40 years experience covering organized crime paints a realistic portrait of the Mafia. Avoiding glamorization, the author, who spent more than 25 years as a reporter with The New York Times, exposes the Mafia as a serious threat to honest citizens. "The collective goal of the five families of New York was the pillaging of the nation's richest city and region," he writes. The five families--Bonanno, Colombo, Gambino, Genovese, and Lucchese--were responsible for corrupting labor unions to control waterfront commerce, garbage collection, the garment industry, and construction in New York. Later, they broadened their vistas to include the country, particularly Las Vegas, its most successful outside venture. Since September 11, 2001, the author says, the F.B.I. has been focused mainly on external threats, the author notes. This gives it room to regain some lost turf by moving into new avenues of crime. Exhaustive in its research and well-written, Five Families chronicles the tale of the rise and fall of New York's premier dons: Lucky Luciano, Paul Castellano and John Gotti. To carry his tale, Raab interviewed prosecutors, law enforcement officers, Mafia members, informants, and "Mob lawyers." The result: anecdotes and inside information that reveal the true story of the Mafia and its influence. A masterpiece, this book will be considered a model of what great journalism should and can be.

The Best Mob Book Yet

Selwyn Raab, one of America's premier journalists, has produced the most fact-filled and complete work on the modern-day mob ever published. Rich in detail, it shows how the mob has grown, changed, and adapted itself throughout the years. Raab also shows that the mob in America, though staggered by a series of defections and successful investigations, is far from finished. Kudos to Mr. Raab for this well-researched, highly readable, definitive guidebook to the mob.