Mafia: The Government's Secret File on Organized Crime

by United States Department of the Treasury, Bureau of Narcotics, U.S. Department of the Treasury

Book Overview

Some time in the early 1960s, during the golden age of organized crime in America the era that would inspire The Godfather ; Goodfellas , and even The Sopranos federal investigators pulled every known... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 160239668X
• ISBN13: 9781602396685
• Release Date: July 2009
• Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
• Length: 842 Pages
• Weight: 1.97 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.7" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Keeping tabs on Organized Crime

This is an amazing book and hard to believe how it ever came to be released.It is a collection of the people that the United States Treasury Department and the Bureau of Narcotics assembled identifying over 800 persons who they believe were the most prominent in Organized Crime,often referred to as Mafia,during the 1950's and 1960's. All we really know about the bckground of the book is from the Foreward written by Sam Giancana.This is not the Sam Giancana (see page 144) whose name is so familiar,but by his nephew and godson.He gives no details of how,why,when and by whom it became public.He claims it was for the use of J.Edgar Hoover,Robert F.Kennedy and others in identifying and tracking down Organized Crime. For over 800 individuals we get their Names,Aliases,Description,Date and Place of Birth,Residences,Localities Freuuented,Family Background,Criminal Associates,Criminal History,Business,and Modus Operandi.There is no date of when it was prepared and no information as to whether or not it was ever updated.All 843 pages carry athis statement "Property of U.S. Govt-For Official Use Only.May not be disseminatedor contents disclosedWithout permissionop Commissioner of Narcotics" It was obviously declassified at some date.. It seems this was a "working" manual and there are no persons shown as deceased but does show some as being in jail. One clue as to its date of preparation can be seen on page 406 where Frank Caruso is shown to be "currently (1960)incarcerated". It has an excellent Index giving Names and Aliases ( shown with an @).It is organized alphabetically by States in the U.S.;and also includes Canada,France,Italy,and Mexico. While it is an excellent Resource for looking up details on persons when reading about Organized Crime at the time,many of those included lived for many years after and of course there are no details about any of their activities after that. Many of the people covered here have long since passed away in these last roughly 50 years;and those still surviving are certainly in their twilight years. It is a very interesting and informative book for anyone interested in Organized Crime in the 50's and 60's.

Great historical slice of life on organized crime in America

Really nothing more than hundreds of reprinted pages and photo's from the U.S. Dept of Narcotics Enforcement in the early 1960's, it is very interesting and a vital resource for any crime historian.

conversation piece

this is something i always wanted, i love organized crime. it is basically an encloypedia on the top figures around the 50's and 60's. that kennedy got information on. everyone i showed loved it. i would of payed double the amout. i actually saved here. i went to a bookstore and the price was 10 dollars more.

A MUST-HAVE MAFIA REFERENCE

This is not a story but a reference. At the front of the book, there is an alphabetical list of over 800 Mafia leaders. This is followed by a page dedicated to each one, with a photograph, description, locations the person could often be found, criminal history and associates, notes on his MO, etc. The appearance of each page is a typewriter font with, in a few cases, certain information blacked out. It is a fascinating collection that was apparently a secret crime file used by Robert Kennedy in his attempt to search out these Mafia criminals and bring them to justice. It was apparently HIS "reference book", so to speak. The cover of the book is very striking and when placed on your coffee table will entice everyone to pick it up. And then the conversations and fascinations begin! Even for yourself only, the information will give you hours of intrigue each time you open it.

Gotta Have It!

Hands down, MAFIA is a must-have reference book for organized crime researchers. This book is an exact copy of the old Federal Bureau of Narcotics reference on 800 organized crime figures (circa the early 1960s) that thankfully has been reproduced for our enjoyment. This is definitely the "Mafia Bible" of that time period -- filled with information on gangsters from coast to coast. The setup of the book -- which, again, is an exact copy of the original one -- is separated state by state. There is a California state dossier of mobsters from San Francisco to San Diego. This continues across the U.S. from Missouri to Massachusetts. It is very well organized, including a thorough index of all those profiled and in which other profiles they are listed as criminal associates of another profiled entry. Best of all are the pictures included in all the entries of that profiled organized crime figure. Many of them I am quite certain have never been seen before outside of the original 50 copies printed by the FBN back in the early 1960s. The only complaint (very small and probably insignificant to most others) I have is that the paper the book is printed on is quite thin, but then again there are like 500-plus pages, so I'm guessing that's why the paper is so thin so that all the profiles could fit into this big, fat book of facts and unparalleled information on some of the most notorious gangsters of the 20th Century. In conclusion, I highly recommend MAFIA for any serious (or not-so-serious) researcher of organized crime. This is a book not only to enjoy but to cherish as the gem that it is. I have to thank the publishers for this one, so . . . thanks! MAFIA is well-worth the price of admission.