COSA NOSTRA is the compelling story of the Sicilian mafia, the world's most famous, most secretive and most misunderstood criminal fraternity.The mafia has been given many names since it was founded one hundred and forty years ago: the Sect, the Brotherhood, the Honoured Society, and now Cosa Nostra. Yet as times have changed, the mafia's subtle and bloody methods have remained the same. Now, for the first time, COSA NOSTRA reconstructs the complete history of the ...

Discover the “convincingly researched and thoroughly entertaining” (The Wall Street Journal) history of the world’s oldest and most influential fraternityFounded in London in 1717 as a way of binding men in fellowship, Freemasonry proved so addictive that within two decades it had spread across the globe. Under George Washington, the Craft became a creed for the new American nation. Under Napoleon, it became a tool of authoritarianism and a cover for revol...

Buon appetito! Everyone loves Italian food. But how did the Italians come to eat so well?The answer lies amid the vibrant beauty of Italy's historic cities. For a thousand years, they have been magnets for everything that makes for great eating: ingredients, talent, money, and power. Italian food is city food.From the bustle of medieval Milan's marketplace to the banqueting halls of Renaissance Ferrara; from street stalls in the putrid alleyways of...

MAFIA. CAMORRA. 'NDRANGHETA.The Sicilian mafia, known as Cosa Nostra, is far from being Italy's only dangerous criminal fraternity. The country hosts two other major mafias: the camorra from Naples; and, from the poor and isolated region of Calabria, the mysterious 'ndrangheta, which has now risen to become the most powerful mob group active today.Since they emerged, the mafias have all corrupted Italy's institutions, drastically curtailed the life-chances of its citizens, ...

The gripping story of how Sicily won its bloody war with the mafia, but succumbed to corruption, fury, and paranoia.For 150 years, the mafia—aka Cosa Nostra—controlled the island of Sicily ruthlessly. As its politicians raked off vast wealth from public funds and its racketeers leeched money from business, its roving traffickers fed America’s heroin habit. The authorities were cowed or corrupted. The mafia murdered with impunity.But today, the world’s most ...

The mafia is the impenetrable and seemingly infallible embodiment of notoriety and criminality. Umberto Santino, one of Italy's leading mafia experts, here provides a new perspective on the mafia: as a polymorphic organization which encompasses crime, the accumulation of corruptly acquired wealth and power, the cultural code of omerta and consensus. Exploring the movements which strive to fight against the powers of the mafia, such as the campaigns of civil society organizations like the C...

Discover the “convincingly researched and thoroughly entertaining” (The Wall Street Journal) history of the world’s oldest and most influential fraternityFounded in London in 1717 as a way of binding men in fellowship, Freemasonry proved so addictive that within two decades it had spread across the globe. Under George Washington, the Craft became a creed for the new American nation. Under Napoleon, it became a tool of authoritarianism and a cover for revol...

COSA NOSTRA is the compelling story of the Sicilian mafia, the world's most famous, most secretive and most misunderstood criminal fraternity.The mafia has been given many names since it was founded one hundred and forty years ago: the Sect, the Brotherhood, the Honoured Society, and now Cosa Nostra. Yet as times have changed, the mafia's subtle and bloody methods have remained the same. Now, for the first time, COSA NOSTRA reconstructs the complete history of the ...

Buon appetito! Everyone loves Italian food. But how did the Italians come to eat so well?The answer lies amid the vibrant beauty of Italy's historic cities. For a thousand years, they have been magnets for everything that makes for great eating: ingredients, talent, money, and power. Italian food is city food.Delizia! is much more than a history of Italian food. It is a history of Italy told through the flavors and character of its cities....

The gripping story of how Sicily won its bloody war with the mafia, but succumbed to corruption, fury, and paranoia.For 150 years, the mafia—aka Cosa Nostra—controlled the island of Sicily ruthlessly. As its politicians raked off vast wealth from public funds and its racketeers leeched money from business, its roving traffickers fed America’s heroin habit. The authorities were cowed or corrupted. The mafia murdered with impunity.But today, the world’s most ...

MAFIA. CAMORRA. 'NDRANGHETA.The Sicilian mafia, known as Cosa Nostra, is far from being Italy's only dangerous criminal fraternity. The country hosts two other major mafias: the camorra from Naples; and, from the poor and isolated region of Calabria, the mysterious 'ndrangheta, which has now risen to become the most powerful mob group active today.Since they emerged, the mafias have all corrupted Italy's institutions, drastically curtailed the life-chances of its citizens, ...

Taking stock of our fragmented political landscape, Michael Patrick Lynch delivers a trenchant philosophical take on digital culture and its tendency to make us into dogmatic know-it-alls. The internet—where most shared news stories are not even read by the person posting them—has contributed to the rampant spread of "intellectual arrogance." In this culture, we have come to think that we have nothing to learn from one another; we are rewarded for emotional outrage over reflective thought;...