Five Families - by Selwyn Raab (Paperback)

About the Book

For half a century, the American Mafia outwitted, outmaneuvered, and outgunned the FBI and other police agencies, wreaking unparalleled damages to America's social fabric and business enterprises while emerging as the nation's most formidable crime empire. The vanguard of this criminal juggernaut is still led by the Mafia's most potent and largest borgatas: New York's Five Families. Five Families is the vivid story of the rise and fall of New York's premier dons from Lucky Luciano to Paul Castellano to John Gotti and more. This definitive history brings the reader right up to the possible resurgence of the Mafia as the FBI and local law-enforcement agencies turn their attention to homeland security and away from organized crime.

Book Synopsis

The New York Times bestseller chronicling the history of NYC's infamous five mafia families is now the basis for the upcoming The HISTORY(R) Channel documentary series American Godfathers: The Five Families.

For half a century, the American Mafia outwitted, outmaneuvered, and outgunned the FBI and other police agencies, wreaking unparalleled damage on America's social fabric and business enterprises while emerging as the nation's most formidable crime empire. The vanguard of this criminal juggernaut is still led by the Mafia's most potent and largest borgatas: New York's Five Families.

Five Families is the vivid story of the rise and fall of New York's premier dons, from Lucky Luciano to Paul Castellano to John Gotti and others. This definitive history brings the reader right up to the possible resurgence of the Mafia as the FBI and local law-enforcement agencies turn their attention to homeland security and away from organized crime.

This updated tenth-anniversary edition features a new preface by the author.

Review Quotes

"Five Families is the finest Mafia history we're likely to see for a good long time." --The New York Times Book Review

"Riveting history." --People

"Raab . . . exudes the authority of a writer who has lived and breathed his subject." --The Boston Globe

"Raab sets a new gold standard for organized crime nonfiction with his outstanding history." --Publishers Weekly (starred review)

About the Author

SELWYN RAAB was an investigative reporter for The New York Times, covering organized crime and criminal justice matters for twenty-five years. He is also the author of Justice in the Back Room and Mob Lawyer. He lives in New York.