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  • Published: 1 October 2013
  • ISBN: 9780425266854
  • Imprint: Berkley
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 312
  • RRP: $26.99

The Quiet Don

The Untold Story of Mafia Kingpin Russell Bufalino



To what extent was Rosario “Russell” Bufalino involved in the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa in 1975? In the CIA’s recruitment of gangsters to assassinate Fidel Castro? In organizing the historic meeting of crime chieftains in 1957? Even in the production of The Godfather movie?
 
A uniquely American saga that spans six decades, The Quiet Don follows Russell Bufalino’s remarkably quiet ascent from Sicilian immigrant to mob soldier to a man described by a United States Senate subcommittee in 1964 as “one of the most ruthless and powerful leaders of the Mafia in the United States.”

Secretive—even reclusive—Russell Bufalino quietly built his organized crime empire in the decades between Prohibition and the Carter presidency. His reach extended far beyond the coal country of Scranton, Pennsylvania, and quaint Amish farms near Lancaster. Bufalino had a hand in global, national, and local politics of the largest American cities, many of its major industries, and controlled the powerful Teamsters Union. His influence also reached the highest levels of Pennsylvania government and halls of Congress, and his legacy left a culture of corruption that continues to this day.
 
INCLUDES PHOTOS

To what extent was Rosario “Russell” Bufalino involved in the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa in 1975? In the CIA’s recruitment of gangsters to assassinate Fidel Castro? In organizing the historic meeting of crime chieftains in 1957? Even in the production of The Godfather movie?
 
A uniquely American saga that spans six decades, The Quiet Don follows Russell Bufalino’s remarkably quiet ascent from Sicilian immigrant to mob soldier to a man described by a United States Senate subcommittee in 1964 as “one of the most ruthless and powerful leaders of the Mafia in the United States.”

Secretive—even reclusive—Russell Bufalino quietly built his organized crime empire in the decades between Prohibition and the Carter presidency. His reach extended far beyond the coal country of Scranton, Pennsylvania, and quaint Amish farms near Lancaster. Bufalino had a hand in global, national, and local politics of the largest American cities, many of its major industries, and controlled the powerful Teamsters Union. His influence also reached the highest levels of Pennsylvania government and halls of Congress, and his legacy left a culture of corruption that continues to this day.
 
INCLUDES PHOTOS

  • Published: 1 October 2013
  • ISBN: 9780425266854
  • Imprint: Berkley
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 312
  • RRP: $26.99

About the author

Matt Birkbeck

Matt Birkbeck is an award winning investigative journalist and author. He covered the first Durst trial for People Magazine and Reader's Digest and served as a consultant for CBS News 48 Hours. He has appeared on a variety of news broadcasts and programs, including CNN's American Morning and Anderson Cooper along with The Fox Channel’s Geraldo Rivera show, the CBS Early Show, and CNN’s Headline News Nancy Grace show. Matt's work was the subject of an MSNBC documentary on Durst in 2007 and he also appeared on Dominick Dunne's "Power, Privilege and Justice" program on TruTV.

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