The Last Testament of Bill Bonanno: The Final Secrets of a Life in the Mafia - Paperback

by Bill Bonanno (Author), Gary B. Abromovitz (Author)

An eye-opening look at life--and death--inside the Mafia, The Last Testament of Bill Bonanno is a stunning document written by the son of notorious crime boss Joe Bonanno. Published at the author's request after his death, The Last Testament of Bill Bonanno provides highly confidential secrets about the inner workings of La Cosa Nostra--offering a behind-closed-doors look at the secret Commission meetings of the '30s through '60s and clandestine details of the Mafia's most venerable rituals, techniques, and indoctrination ceremonies...plus pages of never-before-seen photos. Bonanno's Last Testament stands alongside Talese's Honor Thy Father, Pileggi's Wiseguys, Maas's The Valachi Papers and Underboss, The Good Rat by Jimmy Breslin, and T.J. English's Havana Nocturne as an essential work of contemporary crime history--a must-read for fans of The Sopranos and The Godfather.

Back Jacket

Born into a powerful mob family, Salvatore "Bill" Bonanno was privy to a private world that existed just outside the law for decades in America--a world ruled by the tenets of loyalty, secrecy, brotherhood, and survival at any cost: the Mafia.

The son of Joe Bonanno--the Godfather-like head of one of the original five New york Crime Families--Bill Bonanno came of age in the Golden Age of the Mafia. In this fascinating final testament he ushers readers into that cloistered world, from its origins in medieval Sicilian and Italian history to its rise, tumultuous peak, and precipitous fall in America. Told from the inside--and complete with rare unpublished photographs of candid moments, major players, rituals, and ceremonies--The Last Testament of Bill Bonanno is the ultimate insider's final word on one of the most secretive and misunderstood phenomena of our time.