Mafia Dynasty

Mafia Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the Gambino Crime Family

by John H. Davis

The Gambinos—they arrived in America from Sicily when the '20's roared with bootleg liquor. For thirty years they fought a bloody battle for control of New York's underworld to emerge as the nation's richest and most powerful crime family. Now Mafia expert John H. Davis tells their compelling inside story.

Here are the chilling details and deceptions that created a vast criminal empire. Here are six decades of the uncontrolled greed and lust for power of such men as Lucky Luciano, Frank Costello, Meyer Lansky, Vito Genovese, Albert Anastasia, Carlo Gambino, Paul Castellano, and John Gotti—men for whom murder and betrayal were business as usual. From the Gambinos' powerful stranglehold on New York's construction, garment, and waterfront industries to the government's onslaught against them in the '80s and '90s, Mafia Dynasty takes you into the mysterious world of blood oaths, shifting alliances, and deadly feuds that will hold you riveted from the first page to the last.

For a secret society, there sure are lots of inside stories of La Cosa Nostra. This one, among the best in recent years, is a sweeping account of the growth of the five New York crime families, with a focus on the sprawling empire of Carlo Gambino. Save Al Capone, all the best-known leaders of organized crime--Lucky Luciano, Meyer Lansky, Albert Anastasia, Vito Genovese, Frank Costello, and John Gotti--are featured players here. The first half of the book is a lucid, well-crafted account of the evolution of the five families during roughly 50 years, beginning in the 1920s. But Davis bogs down badly with the 1980s, relying on transcriptions of remarkably stupid conversations bugged by the FBI and seemingly interminable accounts of Gotti's courtroom theatrics. It's hard to escape the conclusion that the author's attempt to include Gotti's 1992 conviction robbed him and his editor of the opportunity to polish the text. Still, lots of readers will want to read this one.