A Complete History of the Mafia

by Jo Durden-Smith

Jo Durden Smith investigates the shadowy figures behind the Mafia myth, and traces the organization's history back to its origins in the nineteenth century, as a peasant revolutionary society dedicated to the overthrow of French power. The compelling narrative charts the rise of this small island secret society to a gigantic crime octopus, with tentacles extending into every level of Western society.

Genres: History, True Crime, Nonfiction, Crime, Coffee Table Books

208 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Jo Durden Smith was a British author and a documentary film maker.
He was educated at Haileybury and Merton College, Oxford. He worked for World in Action, Granada TV's documentary team, where his rock films were made.
Subsequently he lived in New York, and then Moscow. He was a columnist for The Moscow Times, to 1997.

Reviews

[Walt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading the book. I think it is written perfectly for casual reading. The title is misleading. The book is far too short to be a complete history. However, it is engaging. The story moves along at a brisk pace. There is content that is not commonly repeated in the many other books on the Mafia. That being said, there were some errors; there were questionable declarations; and there were areas that begged for more information.

The short chapters and large pictures make this book more decorative than informative. The writing style errs on the sensational and overly-simplified rather than documented and proven. That makes for easy reading, balancing what is lacks in thoroughness. Smith writes with a casual, almost conversational tone. Another reviewer described the book as a History Channel special. That covers the style perfectly.

The book loosely covers the Mafia in Italy and America between the 1860s and early 2000s by focusing on key individuals. It is not about Prohibition; it is about Al Capone. It is not about the 1990s; it is about Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti. There seems to be more content on Italy than America. Smith focuses on New York with a brief chapter on Al Capone. Smith also has a habit of sensationalizing the mob. The concern is not the discussion of farmers and petty merchants shaking each other down; but rather what juicy stories could be included with the barest documentation? The result is Smith covering the crimes of Michele Sindona and Roberto Calvi; but all the while stressing that they were connected to the Mafia. But the connections are tenuous and their actual involvement with the Mafia is more speculative than proven. Similarly, Smith focuses on Giulio Andreotti way too much in the book, again stressing connections to the Mafia, even though he was not convicted of even Mafia association.

The obvious errors cast suspicion on material that is not so well documented. One error that bugged me was the repeated misspelling of Simone DeCalvacante as "Cavalcante." The claim that Gotti posed for tourists outside the Ravenite Social Club is not entirely out of character for Gotti; but otherwise undocumented. Did US soldiers in WWII award an honorary rank on Calogero Vizzini and call him "affectionately" General Mafia? I am skeptical. Did Lucky Luciano unilaterally determine that heroin processing would go to French gangsters?

There is some good information. Smith spends more time discussing recent developments in Sicily, that are not readily available to American readers. His closing chapters on Bernardo Provenzano revealed that the aging mob boss was facing a coup by Nino Rotolo. Until this book, I was totally unaware of that story. Smith's take on Buscetta's testimony is interesting. He portrays the First Mafia War in the 1960s as a generational conflict rather than an inter-family conflict. Previous writing had described the origin of the conflict as control over the produce markets of Palermo, aggressiveness by the LaBarbera Brothers, as well as narcotics. Here, Smith may be simplifying the story to make is nice, neat, and coherent.

Overall, it is a fascinating casual read even if it lacks depth or references. References or even a bibliography would have been very helpful. I can recommend it for any reader including crime enthusiasts and aficionados. The errors are easy to spot. It provides great fodder for the water cooler. Readers totally unfamiliar with the subject would raise an eyebrow in disbelief at some of the content, so the book does its intended job of offering an overview of the subject and then create discussion topics.

[Brian · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is far from "complete". It lacks any kind of true detail and brushes lightly over the history(ie if you only have 3 pages on Al Capone there is going to be some missing information). It was sort of like watching a one hour run down on the history channel. Interesting and informative but lacking indepth information. It was also poorly written, grammatically choppy, and lacked any kind of flow. The author repeatedly stated that the mafia or Cosa Nostra was a socitey in the shadow and we can only know very little about what is going on in that world. The point rings true but seems like a cop out for the lack of thorough information. I find the topic interesting and therefore found the book interesting thou slightly disappointing. A large chunk of the book is about the Mafia in Sicily and how it was helped to grow after WW2 by the CIA in order to keep communism out and help spread democracy. Also how it moved into all aspects of society in Italy including politics which I found compelling. All in all good topic not that well done but I did enjoy what I learned. In that sense the book was a success.

[Anita · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was more of a shallow overview than, as stated, complete overview, with focus on the Italian as well as the American mafia. Except from that there are a few chapters that vaguely focuses on some mafiosos. It is filled with photos, many of them seem quite unnecessary to be frank. Like someone else said, a nice coffee table book, but it could definitely have benefited from one last proofreading and a different font.

[Matheus Gomes · Rating 2 out of 5]

Livro 5 de 2023

Tenta falar de tudo, mas não aprofunda quase nada. Tudo é muito vago, solto ou confuso.

[Ainslee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is far from a complete history of the Mafia- but it's a decent enough introduction to the AMERICAN Mafia. A bit too heavy on the images and infographic-type things for my personal tastes, but it was informative enough to give me a start on the USA version of Cosa Nostra. I'd have loved more details on a bunch of things in this book, but hey, for a $5 clearance item at Barnes & Noble, you can't beat it.

[David Silva · Rating 3 out of 5]

O livro tem algumas informações interessantes, mas jamais poderia ser um livro sobre história da máfia. São mais fatos esparsos compilados em certa ordem cronológica. Se atém às vezes a detalhes insignificantes, mas deixa passar momentos relevantes, como a captura e a profundidade da cooperação de Tomaso Buschetta. A tradução para o português é terrível, quase literal da versão original, o que o deixa mais difícil a compreensão. Poderia ser mais caprichada.

[Grandpa · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is not a "complete history" of the Mafia, but a very vague brush of a few characters. There are many other books out there that give a much more compelling history. This would be for a novice at most.

[Roseann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative and illustrated well.

[Asiuol K · Rating 2 out of 5]

They could have easily fixed this by changing "Complete" to "beginner's''. There were a lot of names thrown at me quickly and there was not enough detail to differentiate most of them.

[Szymon Bialkowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed it, closer to a picture book than an actual book but it does give you a lot more information and a more realistic picture of the mafia.

[Brandon Bishop · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not very well written; mostly skims over a long list of goofy sounding Italian names. Lack on details, like other books on the Mafia I have read.

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I started this book I took it with a grain of salt. Obviously this couldn't be a "complete" history of the mafia. The book was 208 pages of large font and huge page filling pictures. Most of it was filled with facts jumbled together. When relaying facts and events of the past the author would jump back and forth, for example, say someone died but then it would tell details of his past crimes then jump ahead again to why he was killed and what happened afterwards and then would promptly jump back to the past again. I had trouble keeping up with what was current, it didn't seem to go in chronological order. The book was good in briefly outlining the people and times of the Mafia, but was surely inadequate in actually giving detail about mafia members. It was a good reference point to let me know what time period I was interested in learning more about and now I kind of have a basis to go find other books to focus on.

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

The sheer volume of accounts noted in the text is overwhelming and hard to digest in one sitting though highly interesting and insightful. While not necessarily a complete history (in terms of depth and explanation), it does provide a good overview without going into too much detail. 'Mafia The Complete History of a Criminal Word' is a solid collection of key accounts across the mafia timeline served best as a point of reference for more in depth texts, good for mafia enthusiasts who want to know more without being bogged down by extensive details - 3 stars.

[Alison Bradley-carver · Rating 2 out of 5]

Having just moved to the Chicago area, this book caught my eye in the bookstore. Unfortunately, after purchasing it, I found that it was not at all well-written. It is more of a picture book with a few names and events listed. I was hoping for more of an insider's glimpse into the life of a mob member.

[Tiffany]

So far, it is a good read.
I have heard a good chunk of the Un-Hollywood history from my husband, but it is interesting to
learn about the early beginnings,up to now. And most surprsing is what decades were the most violent.

[Larry Van Bibber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very high level review over 100years of mafia history. It was enjoyably and quick and easy to ready. It makes a nice synopsis of the mafia for easy reference. I read it in one day and will refer to it in the future.

[Samuel Catanzaro · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is not a "Complete History of the Mafia" but it is a generic view. If you are looking to grasp the CONCEPT of Mafia History and not be weighed down with too much intricate details then this is the book for you.

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

More of a coffeetable book than a real history of the mob. Plenty of gigantic pictures. Large type. Little of worth to the Mafia researcher.

[Amy Bartley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent, couple of good facts, more of a coffee-table book; good conversation starter...

[Keith Phillips · Rating 3 out of 5]

The mafia has played more of a role in our government than I ever imagined.

[Jim · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn't help me understand my community. Just a wandering collection of chronologies.

[Betsy Hardy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simple history of the mafia.
A little bland and mostly just a compilation of the general facts.

[Jess · Rating 2 out of 5]

A nice coffee table book, but nothing more.

[Ronkeli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Melko lyhyt ja pintapuolinen pikahistoria mafian toimintaan vanhalla ja uudella mantereella.

[Anton Falkone · Rating 5 out of 5]

A curious book that offers an immersing storytelling, accompanied by incredible photographs of old-days and mafia personas.

[DeBora Rachelle · Rating 1 out of 5]

I've read many mafia books and this one I found hard to follow. I had to start writing down names to follow the story so I knew who they were talking about because it seemed to jump around a lot.