To Kill the Irishman: The War That Crippled the Mafia

Rick Porrello

Next Hat Press, Jun 1, 2001 - True Crime - 223 pages

This is the true crime story of Danny Greene, a fiercely proud and fearless Irish-American gangster who fought the Mafia for control of the rackets. After numerous bungled attempts, the brazen Celtic mobster was murdered with a mob bomb. Danny's murder brought about the development of several high-ranking Mafia turncoats including Jimmy 'The Weasel' Fratianno and Angelo 'Big Ange' Lonardo, whose testimony helped to cripple La Cosa Nostra families in Los Angeles, Cleveland, Kansas City, Youngstown, Pittsburgh and Milwaukee. Fratianno and Lonardo were predecessors to more recent, powerful L C N turncoats like Sammy 'the Bull' Gravano. Read about figures like the notorious Shondor Birns and feared Mafia enforcer Eugene 'the Animal' Ciasullo, and their roles in the battles with the Irishman. Over fifty photographs including modern La Cosa Nostra figures like Joe 'Loose' Iacobacci and Lenny Strollo.

About the author

A police officer in suburban Cleveland, Lt. Rick Porrello serendipitously began his writing career when curiosity about the mysterious murder of his grandfather and several uncles led to penning his first true-crime saga, The Rise and Fall of the Cleveland Mafia. Porrello went on to write a second book, To Kill the Irishman, which recounts the story of Irish-American racketeer Danny Greene who took on the Cleveland Mafia and was murdered in 1977.

Bibliographic information

• Title: To Kill the Irishman: The War That Crippled the Mafia
• Author: Rick Porrello
• Edition: illustrated, revised
• Publisher: Next Hat Press, 2001
• ISBN: 0966250893, 9780966250893
• Length: 223 pages
• Subjects: True Crime / Murder / General