Anyone else intrigued by the Italian mafia?

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Bluesville

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Jan 17, 2015
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I read the book Costra Nosa a couple of years ago. Excellent book. It focuses on the roots of the mafia in Sicily. Check it out if you haven't.
 

Wild

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Dec 31, 2014
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bluesville;n7003 said:
I read the book Costra Nosa a couple of years ago. Excellent book. It focuses on the roots of the mafia in Sicily. Check it out if you haven't.
Will do! Check out Mafia Price, about Phil Leonetti and the Philly Mob. Very good book.
 

SickEye

"Sim sala bim bamba sala do saladim"
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Jan 15, 2015
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I've had a bit of an obsession with the 'mob' since I watched "The Godfather" as a youngster. After watching all the "Godfather" movies I preceded to read the book a couple times.

I was too young to fully understand the Godfather movies when I first saw them, but as I grew older I realized just how good they were, and how much they actually relate to politics throughout the ages.

'The Godfather III' gets shit on all the time, but it's just as relevant, if not more, than the first two movies.

The third installment focused heavily on Michael Corleone trying to make himself legit, only to realize that the higher up the latter he climbed...the more corrupt it got.

My favorite dialog from these films, and possibly my favorite 'all time' film dialog, came from the first Godfather film...


Michael: My father is no different than any powerful man, any man with power, like a president or senator.

Kay Adams: Do you know how naive you sound, Michael? Presidents and senators don't have men killed.

Michael: Oh. Who's being naive, Kay?
 

Wild

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Love The Godfather films as well as Goodfellas and Casino.
 

Γαλάνης

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This thread came up under related in a topic I just made so I'm bumping it

I am obsessed with this shit since I was a kid. I have tons of books and have seen endless documentaries, as well as met my share of.. umm I dunno, wise guys, lol.

I have a pretty good e book collection on guys like Lucky Luciano, Sammy The Rat Gravano and more. If interest, I can upload them and post to this thread. Really good stuff!

I find few subjects more interesting.
 

Γαλάνης

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Also, on the subject of e books

One of my favorites (which I hope to own actual physical copy of soon) is "the Mafia encyclopedia"

It's pretty much what you'd imagine. An A-Z listing of EVERYTHING mafia related. Even covers other Italian gangs like the 'ndrangheta, who i find just as fascinating. IMO, the groups in Sicily, the North, and other regions of Italy are even more vicious than America. Some absolutely crazy shit has gone down in the mafia wars of Italy that make America look tame.

I'm really interested in Greek organized crime as well. I have some great articles and shit I could post. The concept of Omerta actually originated in Crete, where my family is from, at least that's what some books say. I think the concept is as old as time, but whatever.
 

BJTT-Rizzo

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Feb 16, 2015
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I watched one on youtube about 'the real Sopranos'. The guys in jersey liked the show I guess. Life imitating art kind of thing. Until of course fedral indictments were served. Worth a watch if you are interested.
 

Jesus X

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Sep 7, 2015
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"when I introduce you, I'm gonna say, "This is a friend of mine." That means you're a connected guy. Now if I said instead, this is a friend of ours that would mean you a made guy. A Capiche?"
 

Robbie Hart

All Biden Voters Are Mindless Sheep
Feb 13, 2015
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Wild @I Wild Each It Bluesville @DontBeBlueBeABelieber

I've read a ton of books on the mafia and by far, the 2 best besides cosa nostra are:

The Brother-Hoods - by Guy Lawson & William Oldham

Murder Machine - by Gene Mustain

Both are top notch and will get you the best view of that world......you can thank me later, seriously.
 

check it

kids need ninja shit too
Jul 23, 2015
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i am indeed.
my last name is the same as a gambino family crime boss from the 80s....you wouldn't believe the amount of people who assume i'm mob related. i am not...but sometimes i wish i would have used it to my advantage.

I always found it interesting how loyal some people would be compared to the ones who couldn't take it and would spill..
i haven't read the books mentioned in this thread-yet...but i always check out the documentaries on netflix or history/bio channel.
 

Hired Gun

If You Only Knew What I Dooooo
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Jan 16, 2015
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I've read allot of stuff on this as well. Two books you should read :

Double Cross about Sam Giancana (Chicago Outfit) and written by Sam GIancana

Double Deal about one of Sam's hitmen who was a Cop.
This is a fast-paced inside look at the workings of the Chicago-based organized crime syndicate and its national and international dealings, by a highly decorated former Illinois police officer who spent his entire law enforcement career working for the Mob. Co-author Giancana covered much of the same territory in Double Cross, his bestselling look at the U.S. Mafia, but here his obvious model is Nicholas Pileggi's Wiseguy, the classic insider look at the New York crime world through the words of ex-mobster Henry Hill. Surprisingly, Corbitt's story compares favorably to that earlier classic true crime tale as he narrates his rise from the ranks of an average Chicago gang to being a player with the likes of Sam "Momo" Giancana (his co-author's uncle) and Tony Accardo-perhaps the two most important figures in the history of post-WWII Chicago crime. Giancana captures Corbitt's eye for the sleazy details of Mob life, such as the time he sees "half a million in loose diamonds" wrapped in a brown paper bag on the front seat of Momo's car, "looking like a ham sandwich." But the heart of the book is Corbitt's description of the mysterious figure of Hy Larner, who, along with Meyer Lansky, controlled organized crime in the U.S. in the 1970s and 1980s. Corbitt's first-hand accounts of Larner's dealings with shady figures like Lansky, the Shah of Iran and Manuel Noriega, as well as with agents of the Israeli government, the Mossad and the CIA, provide some new evidence of the extent of organized crime's involvement with the government.
 

Hired Gun

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Chicago Mob (Outfit) is far more scary than New York imo because they keep shit more quiet.
 

Hired Gun

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Can we post links to torrents? If so allot of the books we've talked about are on Kick Ass
 
Feb 28, 2015
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Yeah so my favorite movie of all time is The Godfather. And I watch every documentary, movie, show, etc related to mob stuff, no idea why, that weird human morbid curiosity perhaps?
 

Γαλάνης

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BTW if we wanna talk secrecy, no one does it like the Genovese

Look at the Chin's charade he put on for god knows how long. Genovese has also only had like 5 guys flip in history.

Speaking of Chicago though, I will probably watch Untouchables tonight
 

Γαλάνης

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"when I introduce you, I'm gonna say, "This is a friend of mine." That means you're a connected guy. Now if I said instead, this is a friend of ours that would mean you a made guy. A Capiche?"
Forget about it

Great movie
 

regular john

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May 21, 2015
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lol at the speculative, restrained thread title. this is the most cliche subject to be intrigued by in the whole world!

having said that, I am as well, ever since I watched The Gofdather for the first time. I've been on and off on this forum - GangsterBB.NET - GangsterBB.NET Forums for Mafia Movies & More - which is awesome for this stuff. very knowledgeable people in there over the years.

also I recently bought my first two books ever including "The Complete History of the Mafia" by Jo Durden-Smith. haven't started it yet.
 

Robbie Hart

All Biden Voters Are Mindless Sheep
Feb 13, 2015
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Forget about it

Great movie
If you want to see how "connected" these guys are galanis check out:
Brotherhoods
Murder machine
Cocaine Cowboys

The names tie together and it gave me a grave sense of connected after my numb brain was in a "oh, shit" moment of clarity after reading them in that order above
 

regular john

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I recently bought my first two books ever including "The Complete History of the Mafia" by Jo Durden-Smith. haven't started it yet.
sounds lovely:

"This is essentially a picture book with long enough captions to make it look like a real book. As a picture book to display on a coffee table or the corner of a big manly desk, it's alright. The words are not very good at all. Smith has a habit of making pejorative statements with no explicit foundation, and moving along quickly with passing references to high points but no depth of analysis at all. (...) Unfortunately, some of the information is clearly inaccurate (...) and what can be trusted is far too brief to make any real impact on a reader. This is a book to buy for decoration, not to read."