Thriller and simultaneously an extensive report. "The History of the Mafia," a book that exudes the flavor of a history written in blood on both sides of the Atlantic, surprises with the multitude of details concerning the "respectable company" as well as the vividness with which the topic is presented.
John Dickie, delving into all possible sources, both official and unofficial, gathering information from everywhere and documenting his findings, leads the reader through the narrow streets of Palermo and the boulevards of New York, to the Milan of the ruling class and the Italian parliament, wherever the Mafia operates. His goal is to make it absolutely clear that the largest criminal organization in the world has a direct relationship with politics and the economic elite; that is to say, the Mafia is an organization created due to economic interests and not a behavioral mode, inherent in the character of the Sicilian people, as those who protected it from above initially tried to convince.
In conclusion, the Mafia was not a product of poverty and isolation but of power and wealth. Along his journey, Dickie examines both the Italian Mafia and its branch, the American Mafia, both at the inception of the former with the foundation of the Italian kingdom and in the decades that followed. He describes its suppression during the years of fascism to reach the present day, when even Italy's seven-time prime minister Giulio Andreotti was tried for his connections with it.
In the chapters concerning the USA, the complete connection of the Mafia there with their Sicilian counterparts is made, and their criminal activities are described, which began in the docks of the New York harbor and flourished with Prohibition, gambling, and drug trafficking. Along the way, the author introduces the reader to those who, for almost 150 years, tried to cleanse Italy of the stain, and the others who exploited it for their unlawful purposes. And of course, he presents one by one the historical protagonists, who acted either attempting to dismantle the law or conversely fighting by any means and without substantial support to uphold the rule of law.
