Legends of the Mob
13 Men Who Built the American Mafia
Most of what we think we know about organized crime comes from the movies—actors in pinstriped suits and Borsalino fedoras who made us offers we couldn’t refuse. Some of it comes from historians who have conducted questionable interviews of anonymous gangsters willing to talk about “the life” in unverifiable tales that mix fact and fiction. The most reliable information was probably generated from the tedious legwork of FBI investigations.
What we’ve come to know with certainty is that the rules of organized crime are quite simple: you’re either an asset or you’re a liability. If you’re deemed a moneymaker, you stick around and work your way up the criminal ladder …
