Hi everybody!
I am (re)watching Boardwalk Empire. and once again I am stroke the most by this (to me) very interesting mix about yiddish, italian and irish "mafia". I was wondering if you could suggest a good book about the rise and fall of the different "ethnic flavored" mobs. Ideally the book should touch Jewish, Italian and Irish mafia (with a sparkle of Cuban and Caribbean, why not), their relationship and the causes that made these specific organizations so successful (and maybe why certain do still exist while other have disappeared). Since I am not expecting that a single book could cover all these I will gladly accept suggestion about more specific theme. Thank you in advance!
Something approaching this might be Daniel Okrent's Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition Okrent has written a very good overview of the Prohibition period and is quite easy to read. Two additional books that I personally enjoyed about this subject were Havana Nocturne: How the Mob Owned Cuba and Then Lost It to the Revolution about the Mob control of Cuba through Dictator Fulgencio Batista, and Paddy Whacked: The Untold Story of the Irish American Gangster which covers the long history of the Irish gang from the 1800s to the 1970s. Both by author T.J. English. Prohibition, Havana Nocturne and Paddy Whacked are all popular history but very accessible and enjoyable to read.