Gangland: How the FBI Broke the Mob

by Howard Blum

Book Overview

Reveals the inside story of how a special team of FBI agents used high-tech bugs and informants to crack the case against John Gotti. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0671687581
• ISBN13: 9780671687588
• Release Date: January 1993
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Length: 349 Pages
• Weight: 1.48 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.5" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

Great read

This book is great, if you're into this genre. It was a great read, and you couldn't beat the price.

David and Goliath, Urban Style

This is a story we all know too well, since it has been dramatized in America as if were a male cultural writ of passage: In the movies, on the TV, in books, and newspaper articles, it has been repeated incessantly at least since John Gotti's took over and then was rapidly toppled from the head of the powerful Gambino family. It is the stuff that legends are made of and is what Mario Puzo's Godfather was based on. But never has it been told so well and so thoroughly and in such fine-grained detail as it is told here in the expert hands of Howard Blum. Like a novel, the story of how fifteen newly recruited FBI agents, were assembled, trained, and then took down America's most notorious and murderous crime family, unfolds like a modern day classic, a virtual David and Goliath tale, with a little bit of the spy thriller and the "Magnificent Seven" thrown in. It is a case of "good" versus "pure evil;" of the "best in society" versus "the worst;" of how a "ragtag" bunch of ex-Vietnam vets redeemed their lost honor and re-discovered their souls in a second act, and in the second battle of their lives: in a war against a New York organized crime syndicate of nearly 3000 members. What we did not know before is how this team was recruited; how they used their own ingenuity to overcome both technical and bureaucratic obstacles; how Robert Blakey, the famous Notre Dame Law Professor "pulled their coattails" as to how to fight organized crime smartly (not one crime and one criminal at a time, but as an "ongoing criminal enterprise"); and how they had to overcome their own personal problems and bureaucratic resistance and infighting, as well as hunt down a highly paid mole within their own ranks constantly feeding top secret information to the enemy. Armed with the sledgehammer of the newly devised RICO statue, they were able to attack the very structural essence of the mob, turning the legal machinery decisively in their favor. And in the process, they were able to convert John Gotti, previously, known as the "Teflon Don" into the "Velcro un-Don," rolling up the hierarchy of the whole Gambino enterprise, and turning the Sicilian "Code of Omerta" into the snitch's Code of "O mama mia?" Five stars

Solid Mob & Law Narrative

Investigative reporter Howard Blum details the rise of John Gotti (1940-2002) and the ultimately successful efforts of law enforcement to bring about his demise in this 1993 book. We get inside information on Gotti's 1985 rubbing out of Paul Castellano, the boss of the Gambino crime family - at which point Gotti became Don. We also see his high-profile days as boss (named "The Dapper Don" by the press for his immaculate appearance), and his ultimate demise due to an intense effort on the part of law enforcement and FBI to bring him down. That downfall stemmed in no small measure by planting bugs in and above the Ravenite Social Club where Gotti held court. At that point the Teflon Don as he was also known could no longer beat the rap in court. Blum makes good use of his journalistic skills, painting an in-depth picture of Gotti, his family, the workings of the NYC mob, and the FBI and other law enforcement determined to send him to prison. These readable pages tell the story in surprising detail.

A pinnacle in American organized crime history.

Gangland is the most thorough and professional telling of the fall of John Gotti. I was already familiar with the characters from other books, primarily "Boss of Bosses," so I was very pleased to wrap up the story as told by this highly skilled author and journalist. The biggest difference between this and other mafia books is that almost all other books are written as first person accounts by the participants (i.e. FBI agents, mobsters, etc.). As an unbiased observer, Blum can tell the entire story in all of its fascinating detail - from FBI squad rooms to the inner circle of Gotti's most private mob retreats. This professional detachment does not in any way hamper the personal details of the story. Blum can still make you feel like an insider. Probably the best example of this is when he recounts Gotti and Sammy "the Bull" Gravano's murder of Gambino crime family boss Paul Castellano. When you read the story again later in the book - as part of Gravano's confession - it brings chills down your back yet again. You can sense the excitement of the government agents and prosecutors who are hearing the story for the first time. It is a true pinnacle in American organized crime history. Gangland is a required companion to other fine mafia books like "Donnie Brasco," "Boss of Bosses," and to a lesser extent "Underboss." The only thing to remember is that its journalistic approach is markedly different from the "I was there" approach of other books. Just stick with it as everything unravels perfectly in the end.

Superb narration of how the teflon Don fell

This is a refreshing account of how John Gotti and company were toppled. The FBI's intense seven year operation is finely detailed and brought full circle to complete a wonderful piece of journalism. This is not just another flyu-by-night true crime book, this is a piece of finely crafted journalism. Excellent read.