Product Description

COSA NOSTRA is the compelling story of the Sicilian mafia, the world’s most famous, most secretive and most misunderstood criminal fraternity.



The mafia has been given many names since it was founded one hundred and forty years ago: the Sect, the Brotherhood, the Honoured Society, and now Cosa Nostra. Yet as times have changed, the mafia’s subtle and bloody methods have remained the same. Now, for the first time, COSA NOSTRA reconstructs the complete history of the Sicilian mafia from its origins to the present day, from the lemon groves and sulphur mines of Sicily, to the streets of Manhattan.



COSA NOSTRA is a definitive history, rich in atmosphere, and with the narrative pace of the best detective fiction, and has been updated to make it the most vital contemporary account of the mafia ever published.



The mob genre has finally grown up.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #20053 in Books
• Published on: 2007-03-08
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 528 pages

Review
'I couldn't put it down.' --John Guy, Sunday Times

'Monumental and gripping' --Andrew Marr, BBC Start the Week

'Riveting' --Sunday Telegraph

Review
'I couldn't put it down. His archival sleuthing is yoked to his powerful, often coruscating storytelling to create a chilling account of the mafia's sinister, horrific reality.' (John Guy, The Sunday Times )

'Riveting' (Sunday Telegraph )

'A readable, highly informative, admirably systematic account of how the Mafia attained its hold.' (Times Literary Supplement )

'Highly readable...compelling. The narrative is entertaining and, at times, as chilling as the darkest crime fiction. At its best, it combines compelling horror with clear, rational analysis of the moral and political failings, which, even today, give the mafia a seat at many top tables in Italian society.' (Glasgow Herald )

'Lucid...grimly readable.' (Daily Telegraph )

'The first truly definitive English-language study of this myth-laden subject, and it is a pleasure to read...his book is notable for shrewd judgements couched in language that is vibrantly memorable. His acquaintance with the island and his immersion in the wider modern Italian culture allows him to convey the noxious atmosphere of corruption with flair.' (Sunday Times )

'Monumental and gripping' (Andrew Marr, BBC Start the Week )

'Combines scholarship with a rip-roaring read' (Sunday Herald )

'Well-written...his findings are supported by careful research and copious documentation. Racy...contains some powerful stories, scenes and surprises.' (Irish Times )

Daily Telegraph
'Lucid...grimly readable.'

Customer Reviews

Cosa Nostra The History of the Sicilian Mafia
I bought this book to learn a bit more about the History of the Mafia in Sicily as I planned to go on holiday there & like reading about the places I am going. I expected the book to be a bit heavy in parts and possibly dry but good in other parts HOWEVER it was a total surprise it was a great book, totally absorbing from beginning to end so fascinating you wanted to keep reading and reading - I learnt so much I didnt know about this intriging subject. So dont be put off by the historical side of it - it is FASCINATING READ!

A compelling read
I was recommended this book as a good holiday read. I read it in two days by the pool but it's a brilliant diversion for any time.

It focuses on Sicily and the real history of the Sicilian Mafia, only touching on other places (e.g. the American mafia) as and when the action there is led by / impacts on the Sicilian 'men of honour'. He starts in the early 19C right up to 2004, discussing Berlusconi and some of his 'tainted' associates...

Dickie is an excellent writer. I can't stand cliches or bad grammar etc but his prose is as fluid as a novel. I also found it helped that he is English, so currency conversions are all to pounds and he uses English analogies (e.g. when explaining how the word 'mafia' is now used across the world, for the Russian mafia, Japanese mafia etc, he likens it to using the word Hoover for all vacuum cleaners!).

The writing is detailed, meticulous and fascinating. I've recommended it to all my friends and really believe this is a book worth reading.

It all started with Lemons !!!
Well I never.........but it really did, way back in the 1800's in Sicily.

I had no idea what to expect, and took to the task of reading what was described by a fellow Anglo-Italian as "the finest read concerning the Cosa Nostra" with great gusto.

Being written by an academic, (and not being one myself) it meant that there was always going to be some heavy going content, and the middle phase is indeed that. Great, but you do have to have your wits about you to take it in and it is all relative to the latter events and the developing threads. Dickie clearly knows his stuff and his supporting research is meticulous.

Covers everything, and everyone, from the startings back in the 1800's right up to modern day, including excellent quality detail on the Maxi trials and the assasinations of those brave Mafia-busting Judges, Falcone and Borsellino.

It even covers the export of Cosa Nostra to the USA and exposes the quite different methods and "management styles", albeit their "business interests" are very much aligned.

I read this alongside Donnie Brasco and it was quite amazing how much more I was able to relate to what he actually went through for those years and the magnitude of his achievements.