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Title: The Last Gangster : From Cop to Wiseguy to FBI Informant: Big Ron Previte and the Fall of the American Mob by George Anastasia ISBN: 0-06-054422-8 Publisher: Regan Books Pub. Date: 16 March, 2004 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (2 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: How the Mighty Have Fallen
Comment: Mr. Anastasia is one of the best true-crime writers there is; he's a superlative chronicler of underworld doings in the City of Brotherly Love. Obviously, this book is intended to demonstrate just how profoundly organized crime has degenerated and declined and it certainly succeeds in that goal. One would be hard pressed to come up with a more pitifully banal bunch of racketeers as Stanfa, Natale, Merlino and their co-horts. That's part of the problem with this book. These people just aren't very interesting to read about. The idea that mobsters were ever noble and honorable has been pretty well discredited by now, but the fact is that the crime kingpins of yesteryear did have a certain stature and flair. Men like Angelo Bruno and Carlo Gambino were Master Criminals who controlled businessmen, politicians, and law enforcement officials and oversaw rackets that netted them multi-millions. They were an inherent part of every urban economy and any honest history of a city like Chicago or New York will have to mention the names of Al Capone or Lucky Luciano. Even someone like Nicky Scarfo, whom Mr. Anastasia has also written about in the past and whose flagrantly murderous and deranged life story makes for fascinating reading, comes across as a much higher caliber of criminal than the petty, grasping thugs that populate this book. Mr. Anastasia is a consummate reporter and writer and he manages to make even this seedy little story as interesting as possible. My hope is that the next time he writes a book, he devotes it to a person or subject worthy of his considerable talents.
Rating: 5
Summary: Terrific insight into the Philly mob
Comment: Anastasia has written a very good book about the Philadelphia Mafia, plain and simple. The book covers the time period from Angelo Bruno's murder on March 21, 1980 through the present, with some background on Bruno as well.
The man most responsible for the downfall of Philadelphia mob bosses Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino, Ralph Natale and John Stanfa was Ron Previte, a gangster-turned-FBI informant who managed to capture all of the above on devastating FBI surveillance tapes by wearing a wire while putting his life at risk every day. The book centers mostly around Previte, and it's a good choice - he's interesting to read about and he certainly was/is a colorful character.
Many probably believe that Previte is a "rat," or the ultimate turncoat on his Mafia "friends." Part of me agrees - he disobeyed a trust, even if it was based on criminal activities. That trust was also based on friendship, BUT the main point is that Previte was only loyal to himself, not those around him. After reading the book, it's also true that Previte did Philadelphia and society a favor by playing an integral role in putting 21 mobsters behind bars.
As someone who has read a great deal about the five Mafia families in New York, I was mostly unfamiliar with the Philadelphia branch of La Cosa Nostra. Anastasia brings dead and alive Philly mobsters to life in a well-written, fast-reading book. The author clearly knows this subject well and it shows in his writing. This book is a must for people who enjoy Mafia tomes. I also highly recommend "Underboss," written by Peter Maas with Sammy Gravano.
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