Into the Heart of the Mafia: A Journey Through the Italian South

by David Lane

Overview

In this investigation into the criminal underworld of the cities and villages of the Italian South, David Lane provides an unrivaled exposé of the operations of the Mafia today

From Naples, home of Mafia-controlled mozzarella and toxic waste, through the no less rotten Calabria, to Sicily, cradle of Cosa Nostra, the hold of the Mafia on Southern Italy is as strong as ever. Following a multi-decade career as a journalist in Italy, David Lane uses his extensive contacts into the world of organized crime to demonstrate how globalization has transformed the Mafia into more than simply a global phenomenon. In painful detail, Into the Heart of the Mafia describes the unceasing mafia pressure endured by priests and politicians, businessmen, trade unionists, and ordinary citizens, and the risks undertaken by the policemen, judges, and politicians who fight to weaken the Mafia's influence. A travelogue with the most deadly of implications, Into the Heart of the Mafia stands as a guide like no other into the darkest side of Italy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780312614348
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	06/08/2010
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

DAVID LANE has written for The Guardian and the Financial Times, and since 1994 has been The Economist's business and financial correspondent for Italy. He has lived in Rome since 1972.

Editorial Reviews

A tour of the southern areas of Italy held captive by organized crime. British journalist Lane (Berlusconi's Shadow: Crime, Justice and the Pursuit of Power, 2004), the business and financial correspondent for The Economist in Italy, traveled through the southern regions to better understand the Mafia-or, more precisely, the numerous organized-crime groups dominating the region, including the Cosa Nostra in Sicily; the Camorra in Naples and the surrounding countryside; the 'Ndrangheta in Calabria; and the Sacra Corona Unita in Apulia. The author shows how business owners, government officials and citizens live-and sometimes die-because of the violent crime and less physically violent corruption endemic to each area. Lane visits numerous anti-Mafia crusaders who risk their well-being as they labor for a less corrupt Italy and Sicily, and the author admires them without lionizing them. Mostly, though, he sees the crusaders as Don Quixote types who are unlikely to neutralize the rapaciousness of the lawless organizations. Occasionally the author takes a side trip to examine the beauty and historical significance of each region's landmarks. Because the wealth accumulated by Mafia figures plays a vital role in fueling otherwise poor local economies, the non-criminals of each region feel reluctance to challenge the violent residents. Speaking up often leads to death, as Lane shows through numerous examples. The author admits to fear as he travels, knowing that he is already familiar as a journalist who dares to publish regularly about the lawlessness of Italian societies. Lane feels pity for the lifelong residents of the crime-infested locales, wondering how they can possibly sustain hope for abetter future. The situation is not as grim in Rome, writes the author, but the state and church powers are frequently unwilling to challenge the status quo of the South. A serviceable though relentlessly depressing chronicle.

Kirkus Reviews