The Trafficantes, Godfathers from Tampa, Florida: The Mafia, the CIA and the JFK Assassination
Product ID: 40841731
Desertcart purchases this item on your behalf and handles shipping, customs, and support to Senegal.
In this page-turning narrative, noted true crime writer Ron Chepesiuk chronicles the story of one of history's lesser known but most important mob dynasties. For nearly seven decades, Santo Trafficante, Sr. and his son, Santo, Jr. were prominent gangsters on the Tampa crime scene. Santo, Sr. arrived in Tampa in 1902 and settled in the Ybor City area where he slowly began his climb to the top of the Tampa mob scene. Along the way, he became a clever and ruthless gangster who preferred to operate in the shadows. By the mid 1920s, Santo, Sr. had become a powerful force in the Tampa mafia. Two decades later, the U.S. government reported that he was "strongly suspected of having financed important narcotics transactions." During Tampa's "Era of Blood" from 1930 through the 1950s, in which several local gangsters were murdered, Santo, Sr. emerged as Tampa's most powerful mobster. He would remain so until his death in 1954. His successor, Santo, Jr., lead the Tampa mob for more than three decades and became involved in some of history's most seminal events. They include mob dominance of the gambling scene in pre-Castro Cuba, the CIA plots to kill Castro, the spectacular mob hit of godfather Albert Anastasia in 1957, the famous mob meeting at Apalachin in upstate New York that followed shortly after, the John F. Kennedy assassination, and the development of narcotics networks in Latin America and Southeast Asia, among others. Unlike most other godfathers, Santo, Jr. never spent more than a night in an American jail. When he died in 1987, organized crime expert Ralph Salerno described Santo, Jr.'s death as "the end of an era" and the godfather as "the last of the old time (gangland) leaders." In vivid prose and concise detail, Chepesiuk weaves the fascinating story of the legendary gangsters, the Trafficantes. "Ron Chepesiuk's book on the Trafficantes takes the reader behind the headlines to the real story, uncensored and without filters. The book is fast-paced with fascinating factual details told in Chepesiuk's trademark tell-it-as-it-is writing style. A must read for true crime aficionados." --Elle Andra-Warner, author of several best-selling books, including Edmund Fitzgerald: The Legendary Great Lakes Shipwreck and The Mounties; Robert Service. Review: Scary History of Underground Tampa - I've been a fan of old-time gangsters long before the movie 'The Godfather" came out. Being from South Tampa I know that old time Mafia types had some beautiful, yet very secluded homes and mansions in our area. Everybody knew where they lived but nobody really knew anything about them. As teenagers, we all knew not to speed through their areas or do anything that might get their attention. We did know that after Chicago and New York, little sun-baked Tampa had the third most powerful Mafia families - BUT, they were never flashy - no big cars, no sharkskin suits (who would wear one in Tampa anyway? Very interesting reading. Now Tampa has some very strong black super-gangs and Cuban-American cartels. Review: Informative. Well researched. A breezy, insightful read. - Informative. Well researched. Some elements appear a tad dated. Other than that, a breezy, insightful read. I picked it up for research on a current screenplay I'm working on. A good intro - well done!
| Best Sellers Rank | #999,819 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #1,326 in Organized Crime True Accounts #2,445 in Crime & Criminal Biographies #32,897 in Politics & Government (Books) |
| Customer Reviews | 3.9 out of 5 stars 561 Reviews |
J**D
Scary History of Underground Tampa
I've been a fan of old-time gangsters long before the movie 'The Godfather" came out. Being from South Tampa I know that old time Mafia types had some beautiful, yet very secluded homes and mansions in our area. Everybody knew where they lived but nobody really knew anything about them. As teenagers, we all knew not to speed through their areas or do anything that might get their attention. We did know that after Chicago and New York, little sun-baked Tampa had the third most powerful Mafia families - BUT, they were never flashy - no big cars, no sharkskin suits (who would wear one in Tampa anyway? Very interesting reading. Now Tampa has some very strong black super-gangs and Cuban-American cartels.
N**H
Informative. Well researched. A breezy, insightful read.
Informative. Well researched. Some elements appear a tad dated. Other than that, a breezy, insightful read. I picked it up for research on a current screenplay I'm working on. A good intro - well done!
J**D
Spell Check? Editor?
A fun book. I could pick it up at any time and it did not matter what page I was on. There is a very hard to follow (if any) timeline going on here. Pure fact: Very poor, if any editing. Actual misspellings. I still liked the book and I wish more care had been taken to publish it. (This is the Kindle edition.)
B**L
Great account
This was a great account of the life of one of the country's leading monsters of the day. It leaves the reader thinking.
T**L
Trafficante's life
This book is very interesting it tells the story of Trafficantes life However it doesn't reveal anything new it covers "Tampa crime family","Santo Sr. and Jr. "the Bay of Pigs" and "Kenedy's assassination" in 140 pages it is a thin fast-read , but nevertheless nicely written. Overall it's worth its price.
A**R
GREAT Book
Loved it. I read a lot of books about Mafia, organized crime, gangs. I love true story’s and this book did not disappoint
D**W
A fair book about the Trafficantes, but not deep
I grew up in Tampa, and went to high school with close and distant members of the Trafficante family (who were not involved in Santo's 'business') and the book is accurate but not very deep. Accurate as to street names and locations. This is a quick read. But there are other books about Tampa, the Mafia, the Trafficantes and related organized people that I'd recommend first before reading this one.
G**P
Poor Research, Average Writing, No Depth
I was really looking forward to reading this book as I am not just a fan of mob stories, I am also a historian living in Tampa, with years of personal research under my belt on this topic- It is actually my job to know the facts about Trafficante and his history. This book was so poorly put together: For example, some 'facts' the author states, in some cases, are just flat out wrong. Things I can got to a library or newspaper archive source and prove the author was wrong. Not a lot of them, but enough to make me want to discount almost everything the author writes. And what was factual and accurate was nothing more than cut and paste from other authors and researchers, one of which I know personally. There were also typos and misspellings. On top of all that, it is written without continuity or flow or depth or any real storytelling. It looks as if the author heard of a great topic, slapped together some info in a day and found a publisher to make it look good. I was really disappointed. If you want to know more about Trafficante, stick with Mob Lawyer (Written by Ragano, Trafficante Attorney), The Silent Don by Scott Deitche (research excellent/ writing is discombobulated- still worth the price for the info). Best of all, TJ English- Havana Nocturne, Havana Mob & The Corporation- Excellent research AND Writing!
S**N
Five Stars
Very interesting....
S**S
Great True Crime book
Fascinating story of this crime family. Scary stuff but eye-opening. Anyone interested in the Kennedys, Cuba and assassination must read this. Lots of food for thought. Highly recommend
M**Y
great book
1st book ive read on the Trafficantes, great book, very well researched, fascinating insight into the JFK assasination. I usually just read New York Mafia stuff but this was just as good, a real page turner.
J**P
Profondeur latente
Difficile une investigation complète sur de tels personnages. Son évaluation bien qu'offrant de belles percées dans la vie du padrino Trafficantes nous laissent sur notre appétit............
W**W
Mafia matters
Compelling and interesting read. However, regarding the Kennedy assassination,unless some conclusive proof, and or prime evidence is uncovered other than conspiracy theories, half baked or otherwise,we may never know the truth.
Trustpilot
3 weeks ago
2 weeks ago