Here is the true story of how a small-town lawman in upstate New York busted a Cosa Nostra conference in 1957, exposing the Mafia to America.
In a small village in upstate New York, mob bosses from all over the country—including Vito Genovese, Carlo Gambino, Joe Bonanno, Joe Profaci, Cuba boss Santo Trafficante, Jr., and future Gambino boss Paul Castellano—were nabbed by Sergeant Edgar D. Croswell as they gathered to sort out a bloody war of succession.
For years FBI director J. Edgar Hoover had adamantly denied the existence of the Mafia, but young Robert Kennedy immediately recognized the shattering importance of the Apalachin summit. Appointed attorney general after his brother John became president, Bobby embarked on a campaign to break the spine of the mob, engaging in a furious turf battle with the powerful Hoover.
Detailing mob killings, the early days of the heroin trade, and the crusade to loosen the hold of organized crime, this momentous story will caputre fans of Gus Russo and Luc Sante. Reavill scintillatingly recounts the beginning of the end for the Mafia in America and how it all began with a good man in the right place at the right time.
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“Mafia Summit is the best, and best-written, true-crime story I’ve ever read. It’s as suspenseful, detailed, racy, and knowing as a novel by Hammett or Chandler. At its heart is a bona fide American hero, Sgt. Edgar Croswell. Sgt. Croswell’s tireless investigation of the mobster bosses who met at the tiny upstate New York hamlet of Apalachin provides a unique window into the ‘turning point in American law enforcement’s battle against organized crime.’ Mafia Summit is a terrific read about one very good policeman’s courageous fight to put many very bad criminals exactly where they needed to be—behind bars.”
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Howard Frank Mosher, award-winning author