Men of DishonorMen of Dishonor
Inside the Sicilian Mafia : An Account of Antonino Calderone
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Book, 1993
Current format, Book, 1993, , No Longer Available.Book, 1993
Current format, Book, 1993, , No Longer Available. Offered in 0 more formatsThe 1992 confessions of Antonino Calderone, a boss in the Sicilian Mafia, provide a behind-the-scenes look at the Cosa Nostra that reveals the Mafia's history, organization, and worldwide influence
The startling 1992 confessions of Antonino Calderone, a boss in the Sicilian Mafia, provide a behind-the-scenes look at la Cosa Nostra that reveals the Mafia's history, organization, and worldwide influence. 35,000 first printing. $25,000 ad/promo.
The publication in English of Men of Dishonor comes at the exact moment when Italy is questioning its institutions and leadership, and the role that the mafia has played within them. The confession of Antonino Calderone was one of the catalysts that brought about the recent changes. When this book was written over a year ago, one could not have guessed that half of the members of the Cosa Nostra mentioned would be behind bars: Toto Riina, il capo del capi, Nitto Santapaola, Bernardo Provenzano, and Angelo Pulvirenti, among others.
This volume has its origins in an encounter between two men separated by nearly everything: class, education, and values. On one side is Pino Arlacchi, one of the most distinguished international experts on the mafia, and on the other Antonino Calderone, "boss" of the Catania "family." In a hideaway provided by the Italian police, Calderone agreed to reveal his, and the Cosa Nostra's, story to Arlacchi during a series of meetings.
The result of these sessions (and of hundreds of pages of testimony given to Judge Falcone) is a unique portrayal of the Sicilian mafia told by a man who was for decades close to the top of the organization. For the first time, we learn not only the history and the structure of the Cosa Nostra, but also Calderone's own story, as well as the daily life of the men of honor: the friendships and the hatred, the bonds and the betrayals. These are men dominated by the business of death - by the necessity to kill in their drive for power, and for sheer survival.
There have been many mafia confessions, but no one before Calderone has been a repentant, a man who truly understands the deep immorality of his life and of the organization within which he operated. For this reason it was only with someone like Arlacchi, who is deeply interested not only in the judicial aspects of the story but especially in the personal, human elements, that Calderone could undertake this journey into the hell of his past.
Men of Dishonor shuns the sensationalism and mythologizing that often characterize books on the mafia. Rather, it is a powerful historical document, a book that depicts not only the history of the Cosa Nostra, but the history of Italy of the last twenty-five years, a history that we hope has now run its course. The power of this extraordinary narrative derives from the truth of its facts, a truth that lingers long after we close the book.
The startling 1992 confessions of Antonino Calderone, a boss in the Sicilian Mafia, provide a behind-the-scenes look at la Cosa Nostra that reveals the Mafia's history, organization, and worldwide influence. 35,000 first printing. $25,000 ad/promo.
The publication in English of Men of Dishonor comes at the exact moment when Italy is questioning its institutions and leadership, and the role that the mafia has played within them. The confession of Antonino Calderone was one of the catalysts that brought about the recent changes. When this book was written over a year ago, one could not have guessed that half of the members of the Cosa Nostra mentioned would be behind bars: Toto Riina, il capo del capi, Nitto Santapaola, Bernardo Provenzano, and Angelo Pulvirenti, among others.
This volume has its origins in an encounter between two men separated by nearly everything: class, education, and values. On one side is Pino Arlacchi, one of the most distinguished international experts on the mafia, and on the other Antonino Calderone, "boss" of the Catania "family." In a hideaway provided by the Italian police, Calderone agreed to reveal his, and the Cosa Nostra's, story to Arlacchi during a series of meetings.
The result of these sessions (and of hundreds of pages of testimony given to Judge Falcone) is a unique portrayal of the Sicilian mafia told by a man who was for decades close to the top of the organization. For the first time, we learn not only the history and the structure of the Cosa Nostra, but also Calderone's own story, as well as the daily life of the men of honor: the friendships and the hatred, the bonds and the betrayals. These are men dominated by the business of death - by the necessity to kill in their drive for power, and for sheer survival.
There have been many mafia confessions, but no one before Calderone has been a repentant, a man who truly understands the deep immorality of his life and of the organization within which he operated. For this reason it was only with someone like Arlacchi, who is deeply interested not only in the judicial aspects of the story but especially in the personal, human elements, that Calderone could undertake this journey into the hell of his past.
Men of Dishonor shuns the sensationalism and mythologizing that often characterize books on the mafia. Rather, it is a powerful historical document, a book that depicts not only the history of the Cosa Nostra, but the history of Italy of the last twenty-five years, a history that we hope has now run its course. The power of this extraordinary narrative derives from the truth of its facts, a truth that lingers long after we close the book.
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