Cosa Nostra: A History of the Sicilian Mafia

The praise given by critics and reviewers when this book was first published in 2004 are easily understood and justified when reading it in paperback format. While many earlier books have largely relied on a review of recent Sicilian history and events post WWII (Norman Lewis, Claire Sterling) or focussing on a very specific area (such as Alex Stille's "Excellent Cadavers" on the story of investigating magistrates Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino), this is the first real recent effort I know of in English to write a full history of the Sicilian Mafia under its correct name of Cosa Nostra. This is faciltated by the recent outpouring of Italian writings based on the vast amount of new information and evidence now available and which Dickie fully acknowledges in his book. In addition Dickie has also researched a number of historical sources and reports which have been largely ignored by previous English language writers.

What really places this book above the rest is:

Dickie has proven much better at covering the 19th century foundation of Cosa Nostra (and its earlier roots in Sicilian society) and then tracking this organisation's development of being a very tightly controlled killing machine exterminating any competition through the 20th century to date - the fact that nearly half of the book is devoted to the period before the end of WWII reflects this approach.

He has avoided the trap of spending too much time covering the US Mafia with its well known more public image and history, instead only referring to it as it actually impacts and helps our understanding of the Sicilian society's history.

Finally he has done a much fuller job than many prior books in tracking the Cosa Nostra linkage through Sicilian politics with Italian political history since Italian unification in late 19th century and especially since WWII, with the rise of Christian Democrats party who dominated Italian politics, especially under Andreotti. He makes a very strong case that without such political links and Rome's constant vacillation, Cosa Nostra would never have become as endemic and protected from the forces of law and order.

One ends the book feeling that the whole tragedy while not at an end is certainly moving into a model seen in many other countries, where criminal or terrorist elements have realised their best chances of survival are lower profile protection and corruption activities plus control of drugs, kidnapping and prostitution rather than seeking to always be in the public eye. This was almost wholly down to an almost public civil war started and executed by Leggio and Rinna with numerous public killings between 1970 and 1982. The murdering of a number of high profile police and anti-Mafia lawyers and politicians, ultimately created the environment where Falcone and Borsellino were able to achieve the maxi-trials in 1986 which used pentiti (defectors) such as Tomasso Buscetta. This led to many (but not all) leading Cosa Nostra old style heads being jailed for long terms under better enforced new Italian laws and those persons failing to date to obtain their freedom by political corruption in Rome.

The book is likely to be the classic text of the area for some time given all these strengths and with the organisation becoming more circumspect.

Good early history of cosa nostra (0/0 people found this helpful)

This book gives lots of good information relating to how cosa nostra started in sicily. It makes a very interesting read about their roots and improvements.

In my opinion it would have been good to included a little bit more about modern sicilian mafia to weigh up the extensive information about cosa nostra's roots.

All in all a very good read and highlights well the difference between the american mafia and the sicilian.

Almost worth 4 stars but somehow does not quite warrant it. But if you are interested in the mafia then definately READ IT!!!

Very interesting and informative (1/1 people found this helpful)

I read this book while on holiday in Sicily and I really enjoyed it. It's a fascinating history of the mafia, and very well written. A couple of reviewers here have criticised its lack of academic rigour, and while I take their point I think that's slightly unfair. It fits more in the category of "popular history" than serious academic tome.

Due to the subject matter, written records are rare, so I think his use of anecdotes is understandable, and for me they brought a lot of colour to his writing. On a broader note, it's an excellent account of the way corruption and crime can infect a society. Well worth a holiday read.

Casual research and slapdash methodology (0/4 people found this helpful)

This book starts off promisingly, highlighting the long-standing distinction between the mafia as an expression of "sicilianity" and as an organised crime syndicate. In fact, one of the merits of Dickie's book is to bring out the extent to which people in positions of power and influence have often attempted to belittle or dismiss the mafia by saying it is nothing more than a national character trait of Sicilians.

Unfortunatley this is about the only strong point in this book, unless you want to see it as some light reading you do on the beach. The level of research is pretty thin - not that the author has not done his homework, far from it. What appears however is that he has researched just enough to be able to fill 400+ pages with anecdotes and endless stories. A serious historian would locate this in a broader complex narrative paying great attention to underlying historical currents. The research is disjointed, and the book is basically a mish-mash of various mafia stories stretching over a century. The lack of footnotes is annoying, and while this could be put down to making the book appeal to a wider audience, at times it seems like a cover for sloppy research.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to defend the mafia, and in fact practically all of Dickie's conclusions about the mafia are spot on. However what I would have expected from a book written by an academic would be some greater understanding of the structural processes which let the mafia survive and flourish. If this book is to stand out from the vast range of mobster biographies available it has to address this in a more rigorous way; the world does not need another mafia-goon anecdote book, but does need a comprehensive history of the mafia.

The extent of Dickie's distance from the real issues is betrayed on page one (and before you ask, I waded through the whole book before writing this review). He claims that cosa nostra is the appropriate subject for a study because "no other illegal Italian organisation is even as remotely powerful, well organised and prosperous as the mafia". Anyone who has been following this issue over the past years cannot help but have noticed the ascent of the 'Ndrangheta (Calabria), which in terms of financial and logistical power has now outstripped cosa nostra. This isn't to say that Dickie's study of the Sicilian mafia is out of place, but ignorance of this significant development in the balance of power between Italy's organised crime groups betrays only a coffe table level of interest in the subject.

Recommended for fun light reading.
Not recommended for anyone wanting to learn more about the mafia (Dickie's conclusions could be summarised in a much smaller pamphlet without the need to read the whole book).

Readable but not the best book about the Cosa Nostra (6/10 people found this helpful)

If you're after a hollywood-style, easy read about the Sicilian Mafia then this is it. You'll enjoy it and come away having learnt a bit. However, if what you're after is analysis of a truly academic standard then you'll be disappointed. The author is, unfortunately, not an expert on the 'Cosa Nostra' of Sicily and wrote the book quickly. This shows. It is informative and to a casual reader the level to which it is informative is certainly enough, however, I would recommend Stile's 'Excellent Cadavers' if you are after a book of similar readability but with a far higher level of research and with far more depth. It is of equal length and will provide you with a much more interesting read.

Cosa Nostra: A History of the Sicilian Mafia

John Dickie

Reader Reviews:

An excellent history (1/1 people found this helpful)

Good early history of cosa nostra (0/0 people found this helpful)

Very interesting and informative (1/1 people found this helpful)

Casual research and slapdash methodology (0/4 people found this helpful)

Readable but not the best book about the Cosa Nostra (6/10 people found this helpful)

Similar Products

Categories