Click on places within italy, enna and a list of towns and cities will open. Britain and france almost came to war in their constant struggle to obtain the precious sicilian sulphur they. It is a beautiful island in the mediterranean sea infested with unlimited series of vendettas, crimes and assassinations. Cornered coyote by dianne harman, the godfather by mario puzo, bound by honor by cora reilly, twisted hearts by cora reil. According to tommaso buscetta the first sicilian mafia commission for the province of palermo was formed after a series of meetings between top american and sicilian mafiosi that took place in palermo between october 1216, 1957, in. Frederick, grandson of roger ii, was the greatest monarch of the th century. Even though a sicilian can get a legal contract, the mafiosi will tell him where and how to operate and push for payment of a pizzo money in exchange for protection. Peter robb lived for years in italy, and this is an informed, anecdotal account of his personal journey to understand the webs of crime and politics which entangle every aspect of existence here. In sicily, defying the mafia travel smithsonian magazine.
This defining work, the best biography ever written of this unique monarch, is great but not always in print. In an allusion to the sicilian vespers, when sperlinga was the only sicilian town which granted. The long reach of the international sicilian mafia. Seeking sicily explores what lies behind the soul of the islands inhabitants. The sordid history of the sicilian mafia we are palermo. In the town there are numerous caves, overlaid with quaint streets that together form a. The top 10 books about the mafia books the guardian. It grew to become a major political force in italy, while its tentacles penetrated every aspect of life in the united states. The mafia continues to exercise a baleful influence on sicily and beyond, from its periodic killings, to the protection money pizzo many hotels, restaurants and shops are forced to pay, and. It touches on history, archaeology, food, the mafia, and politics and looks to nineteenth and twentiethcentury sicilian authors to plumb the islanders socalled sicilitudine, best exemplified by the writings of one of sicilys greatest writers, leonardo sciascia. This book shows the mafia not merely as a criminal association, but as a way of thinking and feeling known as sentire mafioso.
Origins of the sicilian mafia best of sicily tours. This is the popular reference edition of the fullyillustrated ebook the history of the mafia, asin. Mafia women is a great piece of journalism and another one of those rare books on the mafia written by an outsider that commands respect in italy. Salvatore toto riina, the unrepentant boss of all bosses of the sicilian mafia, has died aged 87 in jail where he spent 24 years for leaving a trail of blood across italy. This is the original mafia story that spawned all the rest, the story of chicagos ruthless and tireless mafia. The mafia began on a small island in the mediterranean, sicily. The village of sperlinga was built by digging caves in a giant rock. Italian mafia boss gunned down while riding his bike in sicily.
At present, mafia members even belong to the most respected echelons of society with positions of power and a kind of mafia ha appeared which is even more deeply hidden. Right in the heart of sicily is the cave town of sperlinga numbering some 14,000 inhabitants. According to a university of palermo study published in 2008, around 80 percent of palermo businesses still pay the pizzo, and the protection racket in sicily brings the mafia at least a billion. In this village in the middle of sicily in fact, we enter spaces and rooms dug into the sandstone. In 2010, he began a blog, which became the basis for his book. This short, beautifully paced novel is a mesmerizing description of the mafia at work. Sperlinga is a pretty little town in the sicilian hinterland located between the park of the nebrodi and the park of the madonie, about 50 km from enna, sperlinga is one of the places in sicily that deserve much attention from visitors. When cerreti was a child, in sicily, across the strait of messina from calabria, the cosa nostra was a state within a state, extracting taxes by extortion, dividing up public contracts among mafia. Sicily octopus the long reach of the international sicilian mafia claire sterling on.
Their founders, gaetano reina and giuseppe morello, immigrated from corleone, in the heartland of sicily, to new york city, around the turn of the twentieth century. Sicily guide books blue guide sicily ellen grady edited and revised in 2012 by michael metcalfe. It picks on an issue that is fascinating and historically very importantits about what the mafia does to women and the role that they have. The main practice for some time after this was bloodshed and violence, as corleonesi sought to remove every hurdle between cosa nostra and their further rise to power.
Every single mafia family claims sovereignty over a territory, usually a town or. Origins of the sicilian mafia by filippo spadafora. The best books on the italian mafia five books expert. Palermo nomafia tour it is impossible to describe the sicilian capital without noting its contrasts. Thus the seeds of a possible broadbased education system utilising books written in sicilian was lost. The top 10 books about the mafia society books the. The best books on the best books on the sicilian mafia. The mafia in sicilian literature new academia publishing. It is a cake made with bread dough, fried in oil and sprinkled with sugar mixed with cinnamon.
The mistake he made consisted of his focusing on the mafia man as a single person, as at the time when the book was published it was not certain that a criminal. Sicilian is a romance language spoken on the island of sicily and its satellite islands. Scott deitche author of cigar city mafia and other great mob books. Inside the sicilian mafia this book is an interview with antonino calderone, probably the most interesting of the important mafiosi who turned state witness. A historic example of this is the astonishing fact that in the 19th century 90% of the global sulfur demand was met by sicilian production. It is impossible to describe the sicilian capital without noting its contrasts.
Click on this link to see a list of records for italy, enna. Its unlikely to have any noticeable impact on your stay, however. A history of the sicilian mafia new ed by john dickie isbn. While much is published both fact and fiction regarding the sicilian mafia, there is a great deal of misunderstanding about the historical origins of this form of. Sperlinga is one of the most beautiful villages in italy. By exploring, in great detail, lots of historical sources, starting in the 19th century, he continues to show how the mafia was an integral part of the new market society rather than a remnant from a feudal era. Not surprisingly, the name sperlinga derives from the latin spelunca grotto, cave, rather surprising is the castle dating back to the year that.
Sperlinga is a small town in the province of enna not far from the north coast of sicily and situated almost midway between the nebrodi and madonie mountains. The small hilltop settlement began as troglodyte community contemporary with the sicani, dating around 1,000 bc. However exuberance was quickly dispelled, when the nature of the new order became clear, with only 1% of sicilians being entitled to vote in the new. The best books on the best books on the sicilian mafia five. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a. The book is an important contribution to our understanding of world crime. Hailed in italy as the best book ever written about the mafia in any language, cosa nostra is a fascinating, violent, and darkly comic account that reads like fiction. Enna, sicily, italy genealogy genealogy familysearch wiki.
Hesss mafia is instead the unorganised yet dominant subculture of sicily to which no sicilian is extraneous. Tell us about the salvatore lupo book, the history of the mafia. Sperlinga isnt an excursion kind of town you would appreciate hiring a car. Montreal mafia war spreads from canada to italy by theboss may 10, 20 the ongoing montreal mafia war between the rizzuto crime family from the sicilian mafia and a breakaway group allegedly. A true crime travel guide is the first book of its kind in any language. This book is the first history of the sicilian mafia. Sicily octopus the long reach of the international.
The book charts the nearmonopolisation of worldwide heroin trade by the sicialian mafia in the 1970s and beyond. The godfather by mario puzo, gangster by lorenzo carcaterra, the sicilian by mario puzo, donnie brasco by joseph d. The sicilian mafia is a loose confederation of about one hundred mafia families. The mafia history the story of mafia in sicily about. Sperlinga is located between the nebrodi and the madonie, in the heart of sicily. High above the town, a mighty fortress is perched on a rock, which can be reached via a steep stone staircase. Sicilian myths and fairy tales are also considered along with a chapter exclusively dedicated to. This episodic investigation into modern sicily and the mafia is a superb introduction to the complicated contexts of sicily and of italy. One of the key analytical points of the book is the assertion of the ascendancy of the sicilian mafia over their american counterparts, another is the concept of crime as business. Recommended books about sicily peter sommer travels. In 1870, garibaldi officially handed sicily over to the king of the rest of italy, victor emmanuel ii, of the royal house of savoy, and sicily became part of the newly unified kingdom of italy.
Nevertheless, the only book you should think about reading if you want to learn. Despite italys anticorruption drives of the past decades, the mafia is still a reality that most prefer not to discuss. Youve written a book about the sicilian mafia yourself. The sicilian mafia, also known as simply the mafia and frequently referred to by its members as cosa nostra italian. Sperlinga is also known for the sagra del torrone a festival characterised by the typical torrone, a sweet made with almonds, nuts, honey and cinnamon. During this event, the old village becomes a medieval town with ladies and knights commemorating some of the most important old traditions. A history of the sicilian mafia john dickie the best of many recent books on the sicilian mafia. Since 2006, author carl russo has photographed mafia hotspots on the italian island of sicily. A study of violent peasant entrepreneurs blok, anton on. Given the subject matter, to what extent is this a dangerous activity. It is known and visited both for its handsome castle and for its troglodytedwellings, inhabited until even very recently and these rough houses hewn out of the soft rock make a. Two of the five families of new york, the lucchese and genovese families, are corleonesi in origin. One of the main reasons for this is the mafia, and the culture that led to the mafia in sicily. In legend, the mafia in sicily dates to the sicilian vespers of 1282.