Listen free for 30 days
Listen with offer
-
Five Families
- The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires
- Narrated by: Paul Costanzo
- Length: 33 hrs and 54 mins
Failed to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
99p for the first 3 months
Five Families
Buy Now for £33.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
Summary
Genovese, Gambino, Bonnano, Colombo, and Lucchese. For decades these Five Families ruled New York and built the American Mafia (or Cosa Nostra) into an underworld empire. Today, the Mafia is an endangered species, battered and beleaguered by aggressive investigators, incompetent leadership, betrayals, and generational changes that produced violent, unreliable leaders and recruits. A 20-year assault against the five families in particular blossomed into the most successful law enforcement campaign of the last century.
Selwyn Raab's Five Families is the vivid story of the rise and fall of New York's premier dons, from Lucky Luciano to Paul Castellano to John Gotti and more. The book also brings the listener right up to the possible resurgence of the Mafia as the FBI and local law enforcement agencies turn their attention to homeland security and away from organized crime.
Critic reviews
More from the same
What listeners say about Five Families
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ashlar1077
- 12-05-17
excellent
Massively detailed breakdown of the mafia. interesting and full of fact. learnt loads from this but I can't talk about it.😉
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
13 people found this helpful
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 01-05-19
Very thorough telling of the Mafia story.
Well read by the narrator which made following all the details so much easier as there was a lot to take in
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- william murphy
- 08-05-22
5 stars
5 stars great audiobook well put together will listen again in the future over and out
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ghost1986
- 12-10-23
Full of facts and well narrated
So much detail in this, but you don’t feel overwhelmed with the rate it’s coming at you. The fact it’s a long book means it’s not a barrage coming all at once and comes in a steady and even way. The narration is really good, it would have been a harder listen without such an engaging narrator. Overall, very much worth getting if you have an interest in the Mafia and it’s history.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mr H.
- 29-03-24
love the level of detail and now much it covered
awesome book, covers so much of the history and a really good insight. at times it feels like your there in the moment with them
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance2 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Alison
- 31-05-17
Five Families
What did you like most about Five Families?
Really interesting story - fascinating insight into the Mafia and the way it began and was run through the decades. Not always easy to keep track of all the names, but a lot of that is down to the narrator, alas.
How did the narrator detract from the book?
Unfortunately the narrator was dreadful. He paused in all the wrong places so quite often you lost track of the sentence. He also had a few vocal tics which became very annoying in such a long book. A real shame. Somebody like Richard Ferrone would have done a much better job.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- W. R. Guntrip
- 09-04-21
Definitive
Looking for the history of the US mafia? Five Families is it, look no further.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Torlac OReilly
- 10-09-17
Great epic history of the Mafia in NY
surely a must read for any Mafia boss on where everyone went wrong before them
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 22-11-17
The Mob
Excellent. Highly recommended. Well narrated. Very concise. Hence the length. It's a very big commitment.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- Steve Aitken
- 09-02-17
In-depth analysis on the Mob
Excellent analysis and complete history of the Mafia, from Sicily to America. Excellently narrated also.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful