Excellent Cadavers: The Mafia and the Death of the First Italian Republic
by Alexander Stille
List Price:
Our Price: $9.58
You Save: $6.42 (40%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $2.99 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Alexander StilleEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 1996-08-06
ISBN: 0679768637
Number of pages: 480
Publisher: Vintage
Book Reviews of Excellent Cadavers: The Mafia and the Death of the First Italian Republic
Book Review: Tedious, not very fluid!
Summary: 3 Stars
I guess that too many facts in each page, shifting and adding more info as it goes along. Not very entertaining and that is why I bought it. I guess I expected something like Mario Puzo's wonderful telling of the Godfather, where besides learning about the inner world of the mafia, you also have a great read. Plenty informative, though, and please do not think for a moment I did not acknowledge that fact. I found out that Italy really had its share of drama with these people. Probably worst in many ways than the contract killings in Colombia, which at the time they were happening it was hard to believe how much terror and power the corrupted few could inflict on a whole country. Italy obviously, from the pages of this book, had to endure a period of total chaos and rampant violence. After a while, though, I started loosing that kind of attention reserved for the juiciest of best sellers. The history is clearly approached but the style of writing a little too tedious, not very fluid for me. Which of course may expose my weaknesses as an avid reader but it is my ongoing philosophy that the best reading is the one you just can't seem to put down. Not homework assignments, boring subjects one needs (not wants) to master, technical writings, etc. My fellow reviewers were very enthusiastic for this book and to their credit that is the reason I bought it. Prosecutors, political parties involved, manipulative forces as old as sin, Italy's ordeal are really something. How can these people keep a whole nation under their thumbs? Money? Violence? Whatever the reasons it is hard to imagine a european nation acting like a third world country. The old legacy of "omerta", the few ruling the masses and punishing those who do not endorse their wicked ways. I thought that the criminal element is supposed to hide and not raise much attention to themselves! Boy, I was wrong. I seen it in Colombia until they annihilated Escobar, see it in Mexico even these days and read it in Excellent Cadavers, so much details in fact, that I burned out and lost interest. I guess I was waiting for the heroes in the tale but they never came they simply got slain until the shame of a nation finally acted in a concerted effort to put a stop to this ruthless behavior. Good for them, Long Live Italy but give me some brilliant soccer,cannelloni, pasta tuti de mare, minestrone instead of the scary predicament they found themselves in Excellent Cadavers! 3.5 Stars
Summary of Excellent Cadavers: The Mafia and the Death of the First Italian Republic
In 1992 Italy was convulsed by two brazen Mafia assassinations of high-ranking officials. The latest "excellent cadavers" were Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, the Sicilian magistrates who had been the Cosa Nostra's most implacable enemies. Yet in the aftermath of the murders, hundreds of "men of honor" were arrested and the government that ad protected them for nearly half a century was at last driven from office. This is the story that Stille tells with such insight and immediacy in Excellent Cadavers. Combining a profound understanding of his doomed heroes with and unprecedented look into the Mafia's stringent codes and murderous rivalries, he gives us a book that has the power of a great work of history and the suspense of a true thriller."Riveting...a well-paced and highly informative account stocked with well-drawn characters."--Philadelphia Inquirer
"Masterful...[Stille] delivers a stiletto-sharp portrait of the bloodthirsty Sicilian mafia."--Business Week
General Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Audiobooks on Cassette
- Audiobooks on CD
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- e-Books
- Engineering
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Medicine
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in the best mafia books going
Excellent Cadavers: The Mafia and the Death of the First Italian Republicby Alexander Stille
Vintage; Published: 1996-08-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.28
Price in other shops:
Cigar City Mafia: A Complete History of the Tampa Underworldby Scott M. Deitche
Barricade Books; Published: 2005-07-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.87
Price in other shops:
Murder, Inc.: The Story Of The Syndicateby Burton B. Turkus, Sid Feder
Da Capo Press; Published: 2003-07-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.50
Price in other shops:
The Last Godfather: The Rise and Fall of Joey Massino (Berkley True Crime)by Simon Crittle
Berkley; Published: 2006-03-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.16
Price in other shops:
Men of Dishonor: Inside the Sicilian Mafia : An Account of Antonino Calderoneby Antonino Calderone, Pino Arlacchi
William Morrow & Co; Published: 1993-10; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $17.94
Price in other shops:
A Complete History of the Mafiaby Jo Durden Smith
Published: 2003; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $3.68
Mafia Kingfish: Carlos Marcello and the Assassination of John F. Kennedyby John H. Davis
Signet; Published: 1989-11-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $121.21
For the Sins of My Father: A Mafia Killer, His Son, and the Legacy of a Mob Lifeby Albert DeMeo
Broadway; Published: 2003-09-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.76
Price in other shops:
The Man Who Got Away: The Bugs Moran Story--A Biographyby Rose Keefe
Cumberland House Publishing; Published: 2005-05; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $9.87
Price in other shops:
Guns and Roses: The Untold Story of Dean O'Banion, Chicago's Big Shot before Al Caponeby Rose Keefe
Cumberland House Publishing; Published: 2003-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.95
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
The Sicilian Mafia: The Business of Private Protectionby Diego Gambetta
Harvard University Press; Published: 1996-02-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $24.05
Price in other shops:
Excellent CadaversRelease date: 2008-02-19; DVD
Best price: $13.28
Price in other shops:
A History of Contemporary Italy: Society and Politics, 1943-1988by Paul Ginsborg
Palgrave Macmillan; Published: 2003-01-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.00
Price in other shops:
The Sack of Rome: How a Beautiful European Country with a Fabled History and a Storied Culture Was Taken Over by a Man Named Silvio Berlusconiby Alexander Stille
Penguin Press HC, The; Published: 2006-06-22; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $6.78
Price in other shops:
The Leopard: A Novelby Giuseppe Di Lampedusa
Pantheon; Published: 2007-11-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.05
Price in other shops:
Benevolence and Betrayal: Five Italian Jewish Families Under Fascismby Alexander Stille
Picador; Published: 2003-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.50
Price in other shops:
Cosa Nostra: A History of the Sicilian Mafiaby John Dickie
Palgrave Macmillan; Published: 2005-10-21; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.18
Price in other shops:
Excellent CadaversRelease date: 2000-04-04; DVD
Best price: $2.42
Price in other shops:
Midnight in Sicily: On Art, Food, History, Travel and la Cosa Nostraby Peter Robb
Picador; Published: 2007-11-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.08
Price in other shops:
Gomorrah: A Personal Journey into the Violent International Empire of Naples' Organized Crime Systemby Roberto Saviano
Picador; Published: 2008-11-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.74
Price in other shops: