Capone, by John Kobler, G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1971.
Honor Thy Father, by Gay Talese, World Publishing Co., 1971.
Recognition also is given to the editors of New York Magazine for the special 1972 edition of their publication entitled The Mafia At War, which excerpted significant passages from several important books on organized crime. That publication featured contributions by such distinguished writers about organized crime as John Kobler, Peter Maas, Nicholas Pileggi, Ralph Salerno, and Gay Talese.
And special thanks to Reed Sparling, books editor of STAR magazine, whose advice and counsel were given to his colleague, News Department Editor George Carpozi Jr., the co-author as the text for this book was shaped day by day over the lengthy period of its production.
To all these invaluable sources, Will Balsamo and George Carpozi Jr. extend heartfelt gratitude.
The authors also very specially wish to extend, together, an immense note of thanks to New York’s CBS-TV’s newscaster Chris Borgen for teaming them up in 1976 which resulted in their joint effort for a book entitled Always Kill A Brother. As a result of that first association, Balsamo and Carpozi collaborated more extensively on this volume.
And the authors wish to thank Sergeant Thomas Krant for his always-total cooperation, along with the NYPD’s Academy Museum which provided invaluable information about organized crime in the realm of guns and photos.
The authors wish to express their thanks to Ronald Deliso and Frank Cascella for their help in translating certain words from English to Italian.
Then, too, one very final salute must go to Kenneth Cobb and the staff of the City of New York Department of Records and Information Services lodged in the Municipal Archives, for their tremendous resourcefulness in providing the authors with editorial and photographic information that helped put this book all together.
Contents
Acknowledgments
Dedication
Introduction
I Amorte…He Deserved It
II Those Dirty Black Hand Ginzos
III Buona Sera, Signore
IV Ambush at Sagaman’s Hall
V The Godfather Is Thinking of Retirement—But Not Just Yet
VI Shootout at Stauch’s Dance Hall
VII Charleston Eddie’s Last Sunday Matinee Flick
VIII Furman Street Finale
IX A Botched Job
X Robbing Hood a Robin Hood
XI Always Kill a Brother for Revenge
XII Mistaken Identity
XIII One for My Father
XIV Two More for Papa
XV Wild Bill Lovett, R.I.P.
XVI The Price War
XVII The Year of Vesuvius
XVIII New Heights of Power
XVIX The Adonis Club Christmas Massacre
XX “We’ll See Them, Kid…”
XXI Scarface Al Capone: King of the Underworld
XXII The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre
XXIII The Last Days of Scarface Al
XXIV The Castellammarese War
XXV The Rise, The Reign, and Fall of Charles “Lucky” Luciano
XXVI From Luciano to Genovese to Costello—and an Intimate Glimpse into Yet Another Underworld Hit
XXVII Thomas E. Dewey: A Racket-Buster without Flair or Flamboyance…But with Lots of Clout
XXVIII The Half Moon Hop: A Very Last Word on How Abe Reles Really Died
XXIX The Untold Story; Why and How Tom Dewey Gave Lucky Luciano a Walk
XXX Vito Genovese Is Back and Wants Frank Costello’s Scalp
XXXI Now Genovese Aims for Albert Anastasia’s Scalp
XXXII The Gallo-Profaci War
XXXIII The Banana War: Joe Invents the Unique Bunk-Bed Coffin—The Ultimate Wrinkle in Getting Rid of Bodies
XXXIV The Colombo-Gallo War
XXXV The Nixon Administration and the Mafia
XXXVI The Mafia’s Hold on the United States
XXXVII The Pizza Connection; Hold the Pepperoni, Heavy on the Heroin, and Thick on the Dough
XXXVIII The Giuliani Offensive
Afterword
Index
To my children, Connie, Ann, and Joseph, and Helen and to my brothers, John, Eugene, Joseph, and Dominick Balsamo
Will Balsamo
To my grandchildren, Elizabeth and Meghan McGrath and Wiley Griffin III who I hope will live in a Mafia-free world in the next century.
George Carpozi Jr.
An invisible government under the whip of the Mafia—the government of syndicated crime—has enveloped much of the Western world like a cancerous growth, stubbornly defying the prognosis and treatment of law enforcement agencies.
It is a government so insidious that is has subjugated millions of innocent persons to servility.
The plunder cascading into the coffers of this empire amounts to as much as ten percent of the national income.
Millions
