The Italian-American mafia has its roots in a mysterious and powerful criminal network in Sicily. While the mythology of the mafia has been widely celebrated in American culture, the true origins of its rituals, laws, and methods have never actually been revealed. John Dickie uses startling new research to expose the secrets of the Sicilian mafia, providing a fascinating account that is more violent, frightening, and darkly comic than anything conceived in popular movies and novels. How di...

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...

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, ...

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.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, ...

**This program is read by the author.National Geographic Explorer and TED Prize-winner Dr. Sarah Parcak welcomes you to the exciting new world of space archaeology, a growing field that is sparking extraordinary discoveries from ancient civilizations across the globe.**In Archaeology from Space, Sarah Parcak shows the evolution, major discoveries, and future potential of the young field of satellite archaeology. From surprise advancements after the declassification...

From a Pulitzer Prize finalist, a devastating exploration of the racial disparities in violent death and injury in America and a blueprint for ending this fundamental social injusticeAbout 170,000 black Americans have died in homicides just since the year 2000. Violence takes more years of life from black men than cancer, stroke, and diabetes combined; a young black man in the United States has a fifteen times greater chance of dying from violence than his white co...

An “ambitious, thorough, supremely researched” (The Washington Post) biography of the extraordinary, tragic life of America’s twentieth president—James Garfield.In “the most comprehensive Garfield biography in almost fifty years” (The Wall Street Journal), C.W. Goodyear charts the life and times of one of the most remarkable Americans ever to win the Presidency. Progressive firebrand and conservative compromiser; Union war hero and founde...