Mafia Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the Gambino Crime Family

John H. Davis

Harper Collins, May 11, 1994 - True Crime - 544 pages

The Gambinos--they arrived in America from Sicily when the `20's roared with bootleg liquor. For thirty years they fought a bloody battle for control of New York's underworld to emerge as the nation's richest and most powerful crime family. Now Mafia expert John H. Davis tells their compelling inside story.

Here are the chilling details and deceptions that created a vast criminal empire. Here are six decades of the uncontrolled greed and lust for power of such men as Lucky Luciano, Frank Costello, Meyer Lansky, Vito Genovese, Albert Anastasia, Carlo Gambino, Paul Castellano, and John Gotti--men for whom murder and betrayal were business as usual. From the Gambinos' powerful stranglehold on New York's construction, garment, and waterfront industries to the government's onslaught against them in the `80s and `90s, Mafia Dynasty takes you into the mysterious world of blood oaths, shifting alliances, and deadly feuds that will hold you riveted from the first page to the last.

Contents

• Prologue: 1
• San Giuseppe Vesuviano: 13
• Palermo: 20
• The Roaring Twenties: 29
• Joe the Boss and Little Caesar: 36
• The Triumph of Lucky Luciano: 44
• Birth of a Mafia Family: 51
• The Gottis of East New York: 65
• The Plot to Kill Anastasia: 71
• Part IV: 81
• Fiasco at Apalachin: 83
• The Crowning of Carlo Gambino: 89
• Kennedy Hoover and Gambino: 95
• Gambino Incorporated: 108
• Luciano in Exile: 119
• Summit at La Stella: 136
• The Apprenticeship of John Gotti: 141
• The Problem of Joe Colombo: 146
• The Making of John Gotti: 155
• Death of a Don: 161
• Part V: 173
• Big Paul Takes Over: 175
• The Return of John Gotti: 184
• The Troubles of the Pope: 193
• The Giuliani Crusade: 205
• The Ruggiero Tapes: 212
• The Bugging of the Pope: 219
• The Ménage à Trois: 241
• When Sorrows Come: 249
• The Plot to Kill Castellano: 258
• End of a Boss: 268
• Part VI: 277
• Part VII: 405
• Epilogue: 478
• Afterword: 493
• Acknowledgments: 503

Bibliographic information

• Title: Mafia Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the Gambino Crime Family
• Author: John H. Davis
• Edition: illustrated, reprint
• Publisher: Harper Collins, 1994
• ISBN: 0061091847, 9780061091841
• Length: 544 pages
• Subjects: True Crime / General