Louis Ferrante, Borgata: Rise of Empire: a History of the American Mafia. New York: Pegasus Books, 2024. ISBN: 9781639366019.
Louis Ferrante is a former Mafia associate. In prison, he did something constructive and got an education studying law, science, and history. He eventually became a writer, and now this former mobster turned historian is our guide to a history of the Mafia, also known as La Cosa Nostra, in the United States. This first book covers the time from the rise of the Mafia in Sicily to its migration to the United States to the late 1950s to 1960s in the United States. This book is the first volume in a planned trilogy.
The book is arranged as follows:
- Introduction.
- Five major parts with 33 chapters.
- An epilogue.
- Acknowledgement, source notes, and a bibliography.
The publisher describes the book as "a riveting history of the mafia," and for the most part it is. It is a history book, so there are some passages that are like a history textbook with sequences of dates and events. There are some dry reading moments, but not many. The book all in all is mostly pretty interesting. For example, the author warns that the opening chapters on Sicily and the rise of the Mafia may not be as interesting as the rest of the book. I found those chapters very interesting. Sicily has been invaded many times, and Sicilians have learned to deal with it as well as adapt some of what those invaders brought in. The author gives a good historical overview and shows why and how the Mafia took root in Sicily.
Once we get to the United States, the author takes us through the history. Start in New York? Not quite yet. The beginning is down in New Orleans, then he works his way up to New York City and other parts of the country. At that point we start seeing some of the famous folks we often hear about such as Luciano, Lansky, and Siegel along with others. We get into Prohibition, then World War II, and on to the middle of the 20th century. It is good reading.
A strength of the book is in the author's observations and explanations. Often, he looks at a piece of Mafia lore and/or accepted history, and he dispels it or sets the record straight. He looks at the available evidence as a researcher does and gives us a more accurate view or a more likely scenario in one instance or another. The text does include some footnotes, and I do recommend reading them as they add plenty to the overall context.
The book is well documented with plenty of notes plus a bibliography. I will be looking through the bibliography, as librarians often do, to find books to read and learn more.
In the end, I really liked this book. It is well written, interesting for the most part, and accessible. The Mafia really is a key part of U.S. history, and the author tells the story very well. I will be looking for the next volume.
I do recommend this for libraries, especially public libraries. True crime readers as well as Mafia readers and/or history readers may find this book interesting. Academic libraries with strong collections in popular culture, crime studies, and/or U.S. history may want to consider adding it to their collections.
4 out of 5 stars.
Additional reading notes:
The Mafia was not always original; it did borrow and adapt from its environment, for example:
"Whatever the mafia did not inherit directly from feudalism, they appropriated from the secret societies of Italy which were all around them in the nineteenth century" (28).
On early discrimination of Italians, especially in the U.S. South:
"In fact, next to Blacks, Italians were the most frequently lynched ethnic group across the South and were hated by the Ku Klux Klan only second to Blacks" (59).
The author does include photo and newspaper racist cartoons of the time to illustrate the above point.
This book qualifies for the following 2024 Reading Challenge:
