Mike Dash presents a fascinating, definitive account of the life of the man who might be held most responsible for the rise of organized crime in America--Sicilian Giuseppe Morello, who was infamously known as "The Clutch Hand" because his deformed arm. While growing up in Corleone, Sicily, Morello received two educations-one in school, which would later give him a distinct advantage over the predominantly illiterate citizens of New York, and the other in illegal enterprise, from his stepfather, who was a prominent member of the "Fratuzzi" criminal organization. Sicilian police finally caught on to Morello's counterfeiting racket and sentenced him to prison, though unfortunately, he and his family were on their way to America by the time the sentence was passed. Once in the States, Morello used his shrewd intellect and ruthless nature to assert himself in the criminal community of New York's Lower East Side. If the petty crooks of the neighborhood were lucky or showed some talent, they were recruited to join Morello's organization, and if they were not so lucky, they were murdered, setting the tone for the mob brutality of the 20th century. Dash's intense saga focuses on Morello's rise, on the crest of a wave of appalling violence, and his eventual arrest and imprisonment for counterfeiting in 1910.

Using previously untapped Secret Service archives, prison records, and interviews with surviving family members, Dash presents the gripping story of the birth of the Italian Mafia in America, and brings to life the remarkable villains and unusual heroes of the Mafia's early years.

A history of the birth of the Italian mafia in America traces the life of Giuseppe Morello, describing his rise from poverty in rural Sicily to one of the nation's most influential underworld crime heads, in a portrait that also evaluates the contributions of Morello's brothers, police officer Joseph Petrosino, and secret service agent William Flynn.

A history of the birth of the Italian mafia in America traces the life of Giuseppe Morello, describing his rise from poverty in rural Sicily to one of the nation's most influential underworld crime heads, in a portrait that also evaluates the contributions of Morello's brothers, police officer Joseph Petrosino, and secret service agent William Flynn.