An FBI agent that calls his nemesis The Man. Don't know what to think of that.

Yeah, it's kind of silly when you think about it.

Just got RAT BASTARD by John "Red" Shea off Amazon. Another Whitey Bulger/Southie tale but i enjoy them so looking forward to it!!

Can somebody recommend me a good book that descripes mafia structure (detalied) and mafioso mentalities,how they act and behave?



Thanks!

I would start with "Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires" by Selwyn Raab. It covers the history of the LCN in the US and offers insight into many of the traditions and behaviors.

And what should I read next?

what about "mafia export" by forgione?

Blood and Honor - hands down the best mob book ever written in my opinion. It ends in the late 80's. Wish they would make a part 2 that details the Philly mob from the late 80's to present

This is a good book from Anastasia as well.

As mentioned, The Goodfella Tapes, details some of the post-Scarfo landscape.
Also check out Blood Oath and The Last Gangster.

Thanks Lilo and Nova. I'll see if I can find them on Amazon

I just read Gomorrah by Roberto Saviano. I highly recommend it in order to understand all sides of the mafia.

Basically the mafia is a state within the state. It provides for its members and is highly involved with trade just like any other state.

I think a lot of people are attracted to the violent sides of the mafia, but in reality its just as wrong as only focusing only on the military and police side of the United States.

Killings are usually only done when the position of the Mafia as a state or its business interests are challenged.

Gomorrah explains how the mafia in Naples is doing business and it also explains when violence is done. Usually violence is done to keep everything calm. In fact violence is often a sign of weakness from the mafia. Its a sign it feels it position insecure.

Reading Operation Family Secrets: How a Mobster's Son and the FBI Brought Down Chicago's Murderous Crime Family right now.

I got that for christmas Nova, was quite interesting. Should see the conspiracies on youtube on his interviews, there ridiculous!

Has anyone read the William Roemer (Chicago Outfit) books? Which ones would you all recommend?

Next, my dad told me about 'I heard you paint houses'. I'm definitely going to buy this one. Anything I should know going in to it?

Finally, I finished Joe Bonanno: A Man of Honor. Most certainly worth it for the look in to the life and times of Stefano Magaddino, something no other book offers. I found Bonanno to be a bit more reputable than other posters do, but the fact that he wasn't able to illustrate what 'honor' is says a lot.

I read the Last Gangster so just ordered Blood and Honour! very excited!

Is "Mafia Encyclopedia" from Carl Sifakis good read for beginner?Any objections?

Daco, if you want to read just for the sake of it...sure why not, Sifakis´s book is good. But if you want to learn about the Mafia, I strongly recommend:

- Joe Bonanno´s (with Sergio Lalli) "A Man Of Honor";
- David Critchley´s "The Origin Of Organized Crime In America";
- Alan Block´s "East Side, West Side";
- Tim Newark´s "Lucky Luciano";
- Gene Mustain´s and Jerry Capeci´s "Murder Machine";
- Bill Bonanno´s "Bound By Honor";
- Bill Bonanno´s "The Last Testament of Bill Bonanno";
- Lee Lamothe´s And Adrian Humphrey´s "The Sixth Family";
- Mike Dash´s "The First Family";
- Selwyn Raab´s "Five Families";
- Jonathan Kwitny´s "Vicious Circles";
- Howard Abadinsky´s "Organized Crime";
- Joseph Pistone´s (with Richard Woodley) "Donnie Brasco; My Undercover Life In The Mafia".

Theese books are all good, solid informative books that are easy to read. They are stuffed with well researched info.

My primary goal is to deeply research a mafia structure (whos with who,and to learn how mafia actualy works).What operations they do,and how do they do it.What each position does,and how.

Pistone's book is great,I've read it.Anything similair to that book?

I've been reading a lot about Lew Wasserman, the head of MCA. There are at least three biographies of him out there--"The Last Mogul," "When Hollywood Had a King," and "Mr. and Mrs. Hollywood."

He also figures prominently in Dan Moldea's "Dark Victory," about Reagan, MCA, and the mob in Hollywood. Fascinating stuff. Wasserman was connected to the Mayfield Road gang in Cleveland (Moe Dalitz, Sam Tucker, Morris Kleinman and Louis Rothkopf) and he and Sidney Korshak, the Chicago mob lawyer, were good friends and very closely connected--Korshak apparently served as the intermediary between the Outfit, which controlled the Hollywood unions, and the studios, represented by Wasserman.

Very interesting story about Mafia involvement in Hollywood, music, and entertainment.

I read about half of his book on Spilotro, The Enforcer. It was pretty good but not the best mafia book I've read. I was looking for a book that had some stuff on Mad Sam DeStefano and this one did. Those portions were pretty cool.

The one knock on Roemer is that he spends too much time talking about himself.

Roemer's writing style can be annoying at times. He's constantly blowing his own horn, and he uses way too many excalamation points!!!!!!!!

That said, I've read all his books, and I think "Accardo" was the best of the lot.

Blood and honour is a great read Short!!

Anybody read Frank Cullotta's book?

I did. Nice read, though nothing really new as far as i can recall, if you read some on the subject. Books like Casino by Pileggi or the enforcer bij Roemer. It gives more background and might show you that things are a little more complicated than Roemer and Pileggi wrote. But, it has been some time ago since i read it.

I've read them all. I'm told he tends to overemphasize the importance of Accardo too much. And maybe misread his role in the Outfit as being the overall boss. It doen;t seem logical that he could tell Giancana at the height of his power what to do. It also seems unlikely that, for instance, Sam Destefano was never made: he hung around with Ricca, his wife played cards with Accoardo's, he was Gianacna's man. Seems unlikely to me (I'm no expert, just well read :-)).
You'll hardly read anything about Ricca in his books, while he must have been at least the number two in the Outfit.
So they're good read with a lot of info, but don't see it as a complete picture imho.

Is there any good books about the chin?

Hey guys I am looking to get some new books. I just got done passing all for parts of my CPA exam so I have been reading a lot now and I want to get some good books to pick up for my vacation so I can read.

Here are some of the books I have read and my rating out of 5 being the best to shown what I am interested in

Made men (decal fam) 3 of 5
Under Boss Sammy the Bul 4 of 5
Casso book 4.5 of 5. ( lots of bs but interesting
King of godfathers (massing book) 3.5 of 5
Last gangster 3 of 5
The good rat 3.5
Murder machine 4 of 5
Bfm book 5 of 5
Killing Pablo 3.5 of 5

And I currently have to read a gAmbino book something like the rise n fall of the most powerful crime family and the five families .

Any suggestions about any good books would be greatly appreciated but I would also love to read about The Chin, Meyer lanky , Genoese family, any good recent guys and maybe thr gottis not john tho but any other good books too.

I am also interested in Pistones book n risotto is the sixth family good?

And maybe a book on the Sinaloa carter or el chapo

Thanks in advance

bfm book? which one is that?

Sorry not a "mafia book".

BMF- Black Mafia Family - it was about the Flenory brothers. They ran a big drug ring and used a car service and rap music as their fronts. It was a very interesting book though.