The First Family

Zusatztext 82985088 Informationen zum Autor Mike Dash is a historian with an M.A. from Cambridge University and a Ph.D. from the University of London. A former professional journalist whose work has appeared in numerous national newspapers and magazines, Dash is the New York Times bestselling author of seven books, including Satan's Circus, Thug, Batavia's Graveyard, and Tulipomania . He lives in London with his wife and daughter. Klappentext Using previously untapped Secret Service archives! prison records! and interviews with surviving family members! Dash presents the gripping story of the birth of the Italian Mafia in America! and brings to life the remarkable villains and unusual heroes of the Mafia's early years. Chapter One The Barrel Mystery the room felt like the bottom of a grave. it was damp, low ceilinged, windowless, andon this rawboned New York nightas chilly and unwelcoming as a policeman's stare. Outside, on Prince Street in the heart of Little Italy, a fine drizzle slanted down to puddle amid the piles of rotting garbage strewn along the edges of the road, leaving the cobbles treacherous and greasy. Inside, beneath a billboard advertising lager beer, a featureless, cheap workingmen's saloon stretched deep into the bowels of a dingy tenement. At this late hourit was past three on the morning of April 14, 1903the tavern was shuttered up and silent. But in the shadows at the far end of the bar there stood a roughhewn, tightly closed door. And in the room behind that door, Benedetto Madonia sat eating his last supper. The place was advertised as a spaghetti restaurant, but it was in truth an eating house of the most basic sort. An old stove squatted against one wall, belching fumes. Musty strings of garlic dangled from the walls, mingling their odor with the smell of boiling vegetables. The remaining fittings consisted of several rough, low tables, a handful of ancient chairs, and a rusting iron sink that jutted from a corner of the room. Gas lamps spewed out mustard light, and the naked floorboards had been scattered with cedar sawdust, which, at the end of a busy day, coagulated in a thick mix of spit, onion skins, and the butts of dark Italian cigars. Madonia dug hungrily into a stew of beans, beets, and potatoes, hearty peasant food from his home province of Palermo. He was a powerfully built man of average height, handsome after the fashion of the time, with a high forehead, chestnut eyes, and a wave of thick brown hair. A large mustache, carefully waxed until it tapered to points, offset the sharp slash of his Roman nose. He dressed better than most workingmen, wearing a suit, high collar, tie, and wellsoled shoesall signs of some prosperity. Exactly how he earned his money, though, was scarcely obvious. If asked, Madonia claimed to be a stonemason. But even a casual observer could see that this was a man unused to manual labor. His fortythreeyearold body had begun to sag, and his soft handsneatly manicuredbore no trace of an ­artisan's calluses. After a while the solitary diner, sated, thrust his bowl aside and glanced across the room to where a handful of companions lounged against one wall. Like him, they spoke Siciliana dialect so rich in words drawn from Spanish, Greek, and Arabic that it was scarcely intelligible, even to other Italiansand, like his, the jewelry and the clothes they wore were quite at odds with their supposed professions: laborer, farmer, clothes presser. Yet there was no mistaking the fact that Madonia was an outsider here. Immigrants though all those in the restaurant were, the others had become New Yorkers and now felt quite at home amid the teeming streets of the Italian colony. Madonia, on the other hand, had first come to Manhattan just a week ago and did not know the city. He found it disconcerting that he required an escort to...

#8220;I love Mike Dash‘s books, and this is his best so far. Who’d have thought that the origins of the American Mafia, lost for decades in the mists of the early 1900s, could be excavated so clearly and so enjoyably? Working from newly uncovered documents, Dash has given us the first close-up view of how, when, and where the Mafia began. It’s a tale of great intrigue, told with real flair, drama and, thankfully, precision.”—Bryan Burrough, author of Public Enemies: America’s Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933—34

“Vividly imagined and prodigiously researched, The First Family tells the story of the American Mafia–‘the most secret and terrible organization in the world’–as never before, a gripping, timeless saga of murder, mayhem, and the darkest corners of the American dream. Mike Dash has a journalist’s nose for a good story and a novelist’s gift for telling it, and The First Family reads like the most compelling, sleep-defying fiction.”—Karen Abbott, author of Sin in the Second City

“An enthralling account . . . Decades before the Five Families emerged and more than half a century before Mario Puzo wrote The Godfather, Giuseppe Morello and his family controlled all manner of crime in New York City. . . . Readers may think they know the mob, but Morello’s ruthless rule makes even the fictional Tony Soprano look tame.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“Mike Dash is a brilliant researcher and writer who has done full justice to one of the most astonishing true stories.  Dash exhumes long forgotten evidence to tell us exactly how the Mafia arrived and—more importantly - how it thrived in this country.”—Nicholas Pileggi, the author of Wiseguy and Casino

" Dash has dug into tons of material and emerged with a work of popular history—written in lively, lucid prose, with a strong narrative line and a wealth of anecdote, much of it gory—that seems likely to be the definitive work on its subject for years to come."—Washington Post

“[Mike Dash] is at his best conjuring the birth of the Little Italys in Lower Manhattan and East Harlem at the end of the 19th century.”–New York Times

“Dash is a terrific historical researcher and storyteller…The First Family, another commendable combination of careful documentation and stirring narrative.”—Chicago Sun Times

“An excellent, vividly written introduction to the birth of the Mafia…a must-read book for any student of American organized crime.”—Huntingtonnews.net

“The First Family provides well-researched history for readers fascinated, and even repulsed, by organized crime.”—Dallas Morning News

“Highly researched and smoothly written.”—Philadelphia Inquirer

“Impressive.”—Financial Times

“The Mob comes to America, and rivers of blood flow. An altogether excellent account…Dash writes with flair and care alike, taking pains to keep a complicated story and a vast cast of characters on track while studding the text with nicely hard-boiled observations. Essential.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“Morello's life story has it all—a harsh childhood, a physical infirmity, the tough life of an immigrant–plus the ultimate rise to power. British historian Dash does a terrific job…Recommended for all readers interested in true crime or New York City—or in a good history book.”—Library Journal

“Energetic…astute…With original research its forte, Dash’s history will impress aficionados of Mob history.”—Booklist

Autorentext
Mike Dash

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