A racy, sprightly work...strong on narrative and chilling accounts of the bloodstained events that have marked the mafia's history...a valuable work. - Scotsman
Riveting - Sunday Telegraph
Dogged...a brave work. This is the first history of the Sicilian Mafia to be written by a non-Italian. It gives John Dickie a neccesary detachment, frosty and undeceived. - Mail on Sunday
A readable, highly informative, admirably systematic account of how the Mafia attained its hold. - Times Literary Supplement
Lucid...grimly readable. - Daily Telegraph
I couldn't put it down. His archival sleuthing is yoked to his powerful , often coruscating story-telling to create a sinister, horrific reality. - John Guy, The Sunday Times
Highly readable...compelling. The narrative is entertaining and, at times, as chilling as the darkest crime fiction. At its best, it combines compelling horror with clear, rational analysis of the moral and political failings, which, even today, give the mafia a seat at many top tables in Italian society. - Glasgow Herald
The first truly definitive English-language study of this myth-laden subject, and it is a pleasure to read...his book is notable for shrewd judgements couched in language that is vibrantly memorable. His acquaintance with the island and his immersion in the wider modern Italian culture allows him to convey the noxious atmosphere of c
