Five Families cover art

Five Families

The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires

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Five Families

By: Selwyn Raab
Narrated by: Paul Costanzo
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About this listen

Genovese, Gambino, Bonnano, Colombo, and Lucchese. For decades these Five Families ruled New York and built the American Mafia (or Cosa Nostra) into an underworld empire. Today, the Mafia is an endangered species, battered and beleaguered by aggressive investigators, incompetent leadership, betrayals, and generational changes that produced violent, unreliable leaders and recruits. A 20-year assault against the five families in particular blossomed into the most successful law enforcement campaign of the last century.

Selwyn Raab's Five Families is the vivid story of the rise and fall of New York's premier dons, from Lucky Luciano to Paul Castellano to John Gotti and more. The book also brings the listener right up to the possible resurgence of the Mafia as the FBI and local law enforcement agencies turn their attention to homeland security and away from organized crime.

©2005 Selwyn Raab (P)2015 Tantor Organised Crime New York Mafia

Critic Reviews

"This masterpiece stands an excellent chance of becoming a bestseller with crossover appeal beyond devoted watchers of The Sopranos." ( Publishers Weekly)

What listeners say about Five Families

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Profile Image for Zac

Great history.

Very good telling of the entire history of the American mafia. The book details every major event in the history of the American mafia, from their humble beginnings at the turn of the century, all the way to their near eradication at the hands of the federal government in the early 2000’s.

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Profile Image for Anonymous User

Loved it

Thanks for dedicating your life to this. I recommend anyone who is interested in mafia history to read this book.

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Profile Image for Ben Smart

Needs to be Heard

Comprehensive history of this scourge on society. Often complex and convoluted, but the author maintains the momentum and interweaving of the various family machinations. The marathon 30+ hours of narrative are only slightly marred by very few jarring mispronunciations.

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Profile Image for roger

hard to follow

The writer of this book kept chopping and repeating the same story I found it very hard to follow and did not finish

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