Critchley also spends a great deal of time on the Neapolitan Camorra/Sicilian Mafia war that showed the intra-Italian ethnic divisions in early underworld gangs. It’s the most documented look ever at this little-known event, and paves the way for the full “integration” of Neapolitans, Sicilians, and Calabrians in later Mafia family structures.
Origin is written in a scholarly tone. This may initially put off the casual reader, more attuned to the street-level blood and guts of Mafia tomes. But in fact, the scholarly manner is really the only way this book can work the way its author intends. By choosing a pedagogically-influenced approach, Critchley brings the weight of his research down with full force. The writing is coupled with meticulous notes, a couple hundred per chapter. There are many interesting tidbits, that otherwise would divert the narrative, found in the Notes section.
Illustrations and photos are interspersed throughout the book. There are many photos that have never been seen before, from both the author’s personal collection as well as from relatives of mobsters featured in the book. Critchley also includes helpful charts showing, among other relationships, the business empire of the Gagliano family, and the leadership of the Masseria/Maranzano groups before and after the Castellammare War.
Critchley has succeeded in writing perhaps the most encompassing history of the Mafia’s development in America. The Origin of Organized Crime in America is devoid of any delusions of Mafia grandeur, instead relying on meticulous research to finally reveal the framework of Italian organized crime in America.
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