Five Families
By Selwyn Raab
Rating – 5 stars
March 22, 2006
Mob’s 80-Year Influence Chronicled
Beginning with the Sicilian origins of the Mafia, Selwyn
Raab explains how it spread from its New York origins to cities across America.
Raab, a newspaper and television reporter with more than 40
years experience covering organized crime paints a realistic portrait of the
Mafia. Avoiding glamorization, the author, who spent more than 25 years as a
reporter with The New York Times, exposes the Mafia as a serious threat to
honest citizens.
"The collective goal of the five families of New York was
the pillaging of the nation's richest city and region," he writes.
The five families--Bonanno, Colombo, Gambino, Genovese, and
Lucchese--were responsible for corrupting labor unions to control waterfront
commerce, garbage collection, the garment industry, and construction in New
York. Later, they broadened their vistas to include the country, particularly
Las Vegas, its most successful outside venture.
Since September 11, 2001, the author says, the F.B.I. has
been focused mainly on external threats, the author notes. This gives it room
to regain some lost turf by moving into new avenues of crime.
Exhaustive in its research and well-written, Five Families
chronicles the tale of the rise and fall of New York’s premier dons: Lucky
Luciano, Paul Castellano and John Gotti. To carry his tale, Raab interviewed
prosecutors, law enforcement officers, Mafia members, informants, and "Mob
lawyers." The result: anecdotes and inside information that reveal the true
story of the Mafia and its influence.
A masterpiece, this book will be considered a model of what
great journalism should and can be.
