The Last Godfathers

Review
'A scintillating mixture of history, true crime and whodunnit, told both with restrained moral anger and the fascinating insights of the leading expert in his field. This well-researched, hard-hitting book is a fitting epitaph for the courageous Judge Falcone...Compulsively readable' (Andrew Roberts )

'A terrific read...John Follain portrays the escalating savagery of Cosa Nostra's most notorious bosses with compelling rigour and verve.' (John Dickie, author of Cosa Nostra )

Product Description
THE LAST GODFATHERS charts the rise of the notorious Corleone clan. From it's humble origins in the town of Corleone, the clan manipulated Cosa Nostra's code of honour, deceiving and bludgeoning its way to the summit of the secret brotherhood, purging its rivals and launching a terrorist campaign which decimated anti-mafia judges, police and politicians.<br /><br />Journalist John Follain focuses on the three godfathers who headed the clan from the 1950s onwards. Luciano 'The Professor' Leggio, Salvatore 'The Beast' Riina and Bernardo 'The Tractor' Provenzano, who forged a vicious clan bent on the subversion of democracy.<br /><br />Cutting through the romantic aura of Hollywood films, THE LAST GODFATHERS portrays the true face of the crime family which inspired Mario Puzo's The Godfather. Based on thousands of pages of judicial documents, wiretap transcripts, the testimony of mafiosi defectors and interviews with investigators, this is the last word on the world's most famous criminal organisation.

Synopsis
THE LAST GODFATHERS charts the rise of the notorious Corleone clan. From it's humble origins in the town of Corleone, the clan manipulated Cosa Nostra's code of honour, deceiving and bludgeoning its way to the summit of the secret brotherhood, purging its rivals and launching a terrorist campaign which decimated anti-mafia judges, police and politicians.Journalist John Follain focuses on the three godfathers who headed the clan from the 1950s onwards. Luciano 'The Professor' Leggio, Salvatore 'The Beast' Riina and Bernardo 'The Tractor' Provenzano, who forged a vicious clan bent on the subversion of democracy.Cutting through the romantic aura of Hollywood films, THE LAST GODFATHERS portrays the true face of the crime family which inspired Mario Puzo's The Godfather". Based on thousands of pages of judicial documents, wiretap transcripts, the testimony of mafiosi defectors and interviews with investigators, this is the last word on the world's most famous criminal organisation.

About the Author
John Follain is a journalist and writer. His previous books include JACKAL, A DISHONOURED SOCIETY, CONFRONTING FEAR, ZOYA'S STORY and CITY OF SECRETS. Rome correspondent for The Sunday Times, he covers European issues for The Sunday Times Magazine. He is married and lives in Paris.

from what i heard this book is very intersting.

it is a book about the end of one type of mafia....and the start of a new one.

is this in english or sicilan?

English.

some big names mentioned, i might just go buy this book.

anyone that has read it, is it worth it?

i read it on the plane back from vacation last week... i thought it was really good... think of it as a in depth book on the corleonese crew...thinks john dicki just mentined now is told in longer words. great book!!

Brutes who scared even the Mafia
The Last Godfathers by John Follain (Hodder & Stoughton £20)
By Tobias Jones
Last updated at 3:20 PM on 22nd July 2008


It's sometimes hard to understand why books on the Mafia are so successful. One would have thought tales of strangulations and assassinations would be too gruesome, but sell they do, often in vast numbers.

John Follain's book is a reminder of why the genre enjoys that success.


There's something disturbingly gripping about the relentless bloodspilling, feuds and betrayals; men taking life as breezily as if they were lifting a piece off a chessboard.

The Last Godfathers isn't, strictly, a book about the Mafia, but about three men from Corleone, a small town outside Palermo with a name most people know only from The Godfather films. Follain leaves you in no doubt it's a place deserving of its reputation, but he concentrates on the 'holy trinity' of Godfathers who emerged from there in the post-war years: Luciano Leggio, Salvatore Riina and Bernardo Provenzano.



MARLON BRANDO IN THE GODFATHER (1972)

The methods of the Corleonesi were so extreme that even hardened Mafiosi baulked at them. They dissolved the 12-year-old son of an informer in acid. They murdered 35 relatives of another. One word usually sufficed for a death sentence: 'Niscemunnine' - let's get it over with.

Retired godfather Tommaso Buscetta found the Corleonesi repellent. 'They applied a scorched-earth policy around their enemies, massacring anyone who showed even a hint of sympathy for them,' he said.

Even trusted assassins such as 'Little Shoe' Greco were killed for fear that they had become too powerful.

Leggio was the oldest of the 'holy trinity'. One former aide said: 'He was bloodthirsty. He liked killing. He had a way of looking at you which struck fear into everyone, including us Mafiosi. The slightest thing was enough to make him get angry and a strange light would appear in his eyes which silenced everyone.' Riina was, in many ways, his protege.

When he was 12, his father and brother were killed in front of him by an unexploded shell from the war.

He grew up believing that to reach one's objectives 'all obstacles must be eliminated'. He waged war on the powerful clans in Palermo, murdering rivals one by one until none was left standing. He eventually began waging war on the Italian state, planting bombs in public places.

The third of the trio is perhaps the most interesting. Provenzano was nicknamed 'the Tractor' because nothing could get in his way. He was on the run for almost half a century and became an unlikely religious hermit. When he was arrested, police found a breviary called Pray, Pray, Pray and 83 religious icons. He used to hand them out to his assassins.

The statistics in the book underline how powerful the Mafia is. During the 'sack of Palermo' between 1959 and 1963 the city hall issued 4,205 building permits, the vast majority simply fronts for the Cosa Nostra.

Impunity was guaranteed through intimidation. At a trial in Bari in 1969, there were 64 accused and 64 acquittals. In 1992, when a drug-smuggling ring was smashed, police found so much cash that the banknotes took up nearly 800 cubic feet.

The book is more, however, than just a catalogue of crime. Follain describes the lonely, dangerous work of the men and women who try to combat the Mafia, giving the book the feel of a thriller as they close in on the fugitive godfathers. It helps that Follain is such a talented narrator.

At the start of the book he describes the seconds before an execution in 1992, but before the trigger is pulled (or, in this case, a switch flicked) he takes you right back to the beginning, giving the book a brilliant narrative impetus.

My only worry is that the middle word of the title might be optimistic: any student of Sicilian history should be very hesitant about hinting that the likes of Leggio, Riina and Provenzano will never be seen again.