Product Description

The Honoured Society describes how the US army returned the Mafia to power in 1944, after Mussolini came close to destroying them. It looks at the Mafia in their homeland - how in attempting to preserve Sicily for the Sicilians in the face of countless invasions it infiltrated every aspect of the island's life, corrupting landowners, the police, the judiciary and even the church. In one chilling chapter Norman Lewis details the escapades of eighty-year-old Padre Camelo, who led his monks on sprees of murder and extortion, frequently using the confessional box for transmitting threats.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #39493 in Books
• Published on: 2003-08-29
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 265 pages

Time Out
The Honoured Society is the most penetrating book ever written on the Mafia.

Eric Newby, Observer
The Mafia observed by one of the great travel writers of our time.

Good Book Guide
This brilliant dissection of the Mafia, past and present, combines history, sociology, suspense, horror, and superb travel writing.

Customer Reviews

This is the one
This is actually one of the books on the Mafia you SHOULD get. The main strong point being it's ability to explain the background of the mafia. It's also well written, this is good "story telling".

If you get this you should complement it with "Excellent Cadavers" by Alexander Stille. Together they give you enough information to navigate further. Both of them deal with the Sicilian mafia, but concentrate on different periods.

The Mafia is not just The Godfather
The Mafia's origins in Sicily are detailed in this 1963 book written in the wake of the very first high-profile Mafia trials in Italy.
Informative, matter-of-fact, and chilling in its forensic detail, I recommend this book highly, and I look forward with great anticipation to reading Mr Lewis' other books.