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Title: The Complete Idiot's Guide(R) to the Mafia by Jerry Capeci ISBN: 0-02-864225-2 Publisher: Alpha Books Pub. Date: 30 November, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.43 (7 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: A Minimalist History of the Mafia
Comment: Trying to establish a true history of the Mafia, one that is both explicit and accurate, is about as meaningful as a trying to put together a true history of the CIA or Kennedy Assassination. There are two kinds of writers of Mafia, those who overstate its power and influence and those who understate it. Capeci is among the latter, though it seems for no obvious reason other than opinion given the minimal use of sources and bibliographical materials he documents, hardly sufficient justification. I suspect the truth probably lies somewhere in between.
The strength of this book is the information it provides about recent Mafia history particularly of the 5 New York Families, largely derived from Capeci's journalistic and law enforcement sources. Here he excels and seems to know his material quite well. It falls short, however, in being a comprehensive, or even good or entertaining account of that overall history. I would recommend Stephen Fox's Blood and Power and Nash's Encyclopedia of Organized Crime for that.
The non-NY families are given scant coverage in this book and some very important moments in LCN history, such as the 1930 Atlantic City Conference establishing the current 'System' as it is known today envisioned by Johnny Torio, are not even mentioned, while the importance of other's such as Luciano's role in the Castellemmarese wars, is understated.
Though it is true that they aren't as powerful as they once were, Capeci's assumption that the MOB is dead in many states and all but extinct in others seems a bit pre-mature at best and ignores the LCN's resiliency and adjustment to new circumstance, both threats and opportunities, that it has shown in the past, as well as it's ability to adapt defensively to changes in tactics of the legal system and law enforcement that has kept it around for so long.
Overall a good starter, with valuable info on recent events of the 5 NY families, but hardly thorough and very dry in delivery.
Rating: 4
Summary: A pretty good but dry overview of the mafia
Comment: This book was well-researched, and certainly, it seemed like the author knew what he was talking about. Maybe he did, maybe he didn't, but how would I know? I'm new to the subject, after all, it IS the idiot's guide...
The book was dry. Not a whole lot of stories that had much detail. I would've appreciated more detail on the various incidents, rather than 1000 blurbs all saying "so and so whacked such and such".
But a good starter to the subject.
Rating: 4
Summary: Close to the Mark
Comment: The Complete Idiot's (and Dummies) format is currently one of the biggest rages in publishing. After reading the idiot's guide to the mafia I can see why. A generous (but not truly exhaustive) amount of material is presented in an adult textbook format complete with chapter goals and what amounts to a "quiz" - though not in the form of questions at the end of each chapter. The format easily hides the book's major flaws. The worst flaw is that there is almost no reference whatever to the Sicilian mafia and no discussion of what influence or control it had or has over its American cousin. Yet, when Petrosino traveled to Sicily in 1909 he found assassins waiting. They seem to have kept in touch. Second, there is exactly one reference to the "Pizza Connection" probably because it would be impossible to discuss that landmark case without reference to the Sicilian Mafia and its power with and over Joe Bonanno and subsequent leaders of American Mob families.This is puzzling because Capeci goes to great lengths to show how much Bonanno was involved in drugs yet he ignores his 1957 trip to Sicily, his meeting with Luciano and major Sicilian mafia leaders that led to the birth of the "Pizza Connection." Capeci seems to have a subtle pro-FBI bias and "Pizza" showed the FBI missed the boat from 1957 to the mid-80's. Capeci stretches at a few points to find real-life examples for scenes in The Godfather films...he is flat wrong on one. Oh well, it is overall a good intro to the Syndicate chock full of boilerplate info. It does not quite live up to the publisher's billing, however. One of the best things is that he finds the mobsters to be the thuggish dishonorable monsters that they are. No romance here.
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Title: The Mafia Encyclopedia by Carl Sifakis ISBN: 0816038570 Publisher: Facts on File Pub. Date: 01 July, 1999 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: Jerry Capeci's Gang Land by Jerry Capeci ISBN: 1592571336 Publisher: Alpha Books Pub. Date: 04 November, 2003 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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Title: Mob Star: The Story of John Gotti by Gene Mustain, Jerry Capeci ISBN: 0028644166 Publisher: Alpha Books Pub. Date: 03 July, 2002 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: The Everything Mafia Book: True-Life Accounts of Legendary Figures, Infamous Crime Families, and Chilling Events (Everything Series) by James Mannion ISBN: 1580628648 Publisher: Adams Media Corporation Pub. Date: 01 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Murder Machine: A True Story of Murder, Madness, and the Mafia by Gene Mustain ISBN: 0451403878 Publisher: Onyx Books Pub. Date: 01 July, 1993 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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