Men of Dishonor: Inside the Sicilian Mafia : An Account of Antonino Calderone
Arlacchi ( Mafia Business ), a professor of sociology at the University of Florence, is considered to be among Italy's top experts on organized crime. He depicts the internal workings of the mafia in the words of Antonino Calderone, once a boss in the Sicilian port of Catania. Now one of the pentiti , or penitents, in Italy's witness protection program, Calderone met at length with Arlacchi, who recorded their discussions. Born in 1935, Calderone joined the Mafia in 1962 and remained in it until his arrest in 1985. During that time, we're told, three levels of mobsters existed in Sicily: bands of "common criminals," mafiosi, and members of the Cosa Nostra, the creme de la crime whose power reached even into the national parliament. Mafia members prided themselves on being men of honor, but Calderone believes that this concept was undermined when drugs joined the gang's stocks in trade of robbery, graft, extortion, kidnapping and murder. This revealing and superbly translated book has one serious impediment: the number of names mentioned counts into the hundreds and it is virtually impossible to keep more than just a few sorted out. Photos not seen by PW .Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.