Octopus: The Long Reach of the International Sicilian Mafia

by Claire Sterling

Traces the development of the world's largest international crime syndicate and examines its control of the illegal drug trade

Genres: Crime, History, True Crime, Nonfiction

384 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1990

Reviews

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

A intriguing and revealing book about the Sicilian Mafia all over the world,the best book written on this subject by a true international journalist,who lived for many years in Rome Italy. Sterling was a fearless writer ,such detail about the workings of the Mafia ,and the history as well- superb

[Peter Lance]

The best book on the Sicilian Mafia ever written by a non Siclian

[Julio The Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Those of us who knew Claire Sterling in the 1980s when she was reporting on Central America (REVOLUTION IN THE FAMILY) recognized she was a goddamn liar, printing only what suited the big newspapers in El Norte and made all revolutions, from Guatemala to Nicaragua, the work of Castro and Brezhnev. So, why should I or anyone else believe her when int comes to the Sicilian Mafia? Even though the details may all be libel taken from the archives of the Italian police, the rise of the Sicilians throgh heroin trafficking and their controlling interest in an empire of crime that stretched from Palermo to Montreal to Latin America is corroborated by other sources, such as Mafia defectors. Sterling asserts, quite correctly, that in the late 1980s "the Dominican Republic and Venezuela both became outpost colonies for the Sicilians". She's also right to argue that drugs gave the mafia that kind of power and drugs took it away. The fortune being made from the heroin traffic enabled the Sicilians to escape justice at home, including killings of judges, generals, cops, prosecutors., and of course, each other. Power shifted in the mafia commission from Palermo to the more rutless family from Corleone. The flip side is that in their heads the Sicilian bosses, especially the Corelonesi, came to believe they could take on the Italian government in Sicily and win. Wrong. Better to operate undercover and under the protection of Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti, AKA "Dom Luchessi". When the Cold War ended the Americans and Italian politicians no longer saw any need for the mobbed-up Christian Democratic Party, and the mafia lost all its political contacts. Claires last page prediction: "The Sicilians next target is bound to be Russia". Sorry, Claire, the Russian Mafya got there first. "Power wears out those who don't have it".

[Tara]

5/25/12 - Got this in with a bunch of books a lady was giving away.

[Walt · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent overview of the Sicilian Mafia