Witness the rise of Carlo Gambino, from penniless immigrant, to the boss of all bosses of the entire American Mafia.
Silent and reclusive to a fault, by the time the public got its first look at Gambino in 1970, he was already 68-years-old and the most powerful Mafia don in the country. He controlled a crew of 800 sworn mafiosi, as well as over 2,000-plus associates. His crime family oversaw nearly 50 criminal and legitimate enterprises, which grossed over $1 billion a year in revenue. Yet, despite these remarkable accomplishments, few know of Carlo Gambino, let alone his story... until now.
Finally, the life and crimes of Carlo Gambino are highlighted in full, gory detail in this updated, second edition of Paul Meskil's 1974 true-crime classic. The reader will also have the opportunity to meet such celebrity gangsters as Charlie "Lucky" Luciano, Al "Scarface" Capone, Meyer Lansky, Vito Genovese, and Albert "The Mad Hatter" Anastasia, all of whom were Gambino's contemporaries... and all of whom became mere pawns on Gambino's chessboard, as the wily old don consolidated his nefarious power, en route to becoming the most successful gangster of all time.
Meskil's riveting opus (updated with new photos and a gripping epilogue by mob historian James Pierre) explores the dichotomies of family, wealth, and power within La Cosa Nostra's bloody underworld, and will leave readers shell-shocked, from the first page to the very last.