Venetian palaces Book

So many Mafia histories are written to the same outline, regardless of their focus. Hess' book is an exception. My area of interest is Mafia organization---what shape a Mafia cosca takes, the shape of the network that connects cosche, its resemblance to and reliance upon the family. Hess devotes himself to describing and defining terms the rest of us have been throwing around: words like "mafia" and "mafioso." Even when talking about gangsters who are a poor fit, his is still the best resource for describing a subject as more or less meeting a classic and accepted definition. A must read for anyone with a serious interest in Mafia studies.