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Vinnitta: The Birth of the Detroit Mafia Paperback – April 4, 2019

by Daniel Waugh (Author)

4.8 17 ratings

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It was the winter of 1919, and it was the height of a gang war the Motor City hadn't seen before. Detroit's Mafia family had split into two factions, both vying to not only avenge ancient wrongs but also gain control of the city's lucrative illegal alcohol trade at the dawn of Prohibition. In Vìnnitta, author Daniel Waugh offers an in-depth account of the formation of the Detroit Mafia and how they grew from a small band of Sicilian immigrants into one of the most powerful criminal sects in the Midwest. He shares how the Mafia infiltrated the Detroit business community and established themselves in illegal rackets ranging from extortion, auto theft, bootlegging, burglary, and construction racketeering. The narrative focuses on not only the gangsters themselves but also residents of Little Sicily who lives became unwittingly entwined with the Mafia, chief among them an undertaker forced to prepare many of his friends for burial after their murders. The book climaxes with the Giannola-Vitale War of 1918-21, a violent gang war that involved Mafia families from all over the country and claimed the lives of both criminals and law-abiding citizens.

Print length

510 pages
Language

English
Publication date

April 4, 2019
Dimensions

5.98 x 1.28 x 9.02 inches
ISBN-10

1483496279
ISBN-13

978-1483496276
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Lulu Publishing Services; null edition (April 4, 2019)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 510 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1483496279
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1483496276
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.63 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.98 x 1.28 x 9.02 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,375,908 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #145,541 in History (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.8 17 ratings

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James Murdock

good history

Reviewed in the United States on September 7, 2022

Verified Purchase

well written and lots of good research put into it

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Oliver

Fascinating account of the early history of Detroit's criminal underworld!

Reviewed in the United States on April 29, 2019

Verified Purchase

If you have an interest in the history of Detroit or the history of organized crime in the U.S., then I would definitely recommend this well-researched book. They're plenty to read about the history of these Detroit gangsters, including the likes of Tony Giannola and Chester LeMare. The author has an easy-to-read style for the casual reader that doesn't romanticize the mafia as some books in this genre can do. For the academic researcher, historian, or enthusiast there's plenty of footnotes throughout the book to look up the original sources used by the author or find other resources to go even more in-depth on some event mentioned by the author.

All around, an excellent book!

3 people found this helpful

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Michael Figueroa

Great Read

Reviewed in the United States on August 26, 2019

Verified Purchase

Awesome! the Research on this book second to none. 30 years of reading mob books this one easily falls in my top 5 out of hundreds

2 people found this helpful

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Early Years of the Detroit Mafia Come to Life in Vinnitta

Reviewed in the United States on June 5, 2019

My short list of great books about the Mafia in America is very short –

The Godfather by Mario Puzo;

The Valachi Papers by Peter Maas, and;

A Man of Honor by Joseph Bonanno.

I’ll be adding Vinnitta to that list.

Author Daniel Waugh has woven an intricate, true, and spellbinding story of the beginnings of the Mafia in Detroit, Michigan. In doing so, he has rescued a number of people from the dustbin of history.

He starts with the early 19th century beginnings of the Honorable Society in Sicily, quickly giving readers a basic understanding of the structure, and the reasons behind, the rise of the Mafia in Sicily. It was a struggle between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’ in that country, with its early roots sunk deep into the struggle for land. These century old struggles and grudges criss-crossed the Atlantic Ocean, beginning near the end the century and growing quickly through the ensuing decades.

Sicilians and Italians coming to America settled in growing, ethnicity based enclaves in various cities. The human element of these neighborhoods that was less inclined to obey the law, combined with a distrust of law enforcement that was rooted in the old country, helped criminal organizations to rise and coalesce fairly quickly.

By 1919, the Detroit Mafia was comprised of two powerful outfits, and they were at war. Mafiusu were sometimes being assassinated at a rate of two or more per day. Dozens were murdered, assassins were brought to trial. Victims whose life was quickly escaping via their blood flowing into the streets would often observe the tradition of umirta, refusing to name their killer or killers. All the trials resulted in a grand total of one conviction, the case for which was re-tried and the killer found innocent. It didn’t really matter, as the assassins themselves were eventually murdered by perceived friends or real enemies.

Killers were often brought in from other cities, bootleggers worked with organizations in other cities and, in these instances, one can quickly see how organized crime became so well organized. Things eventually evolved to the point that meetings of organizational leadership from Detroit, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Saint Louis, Kansas City, and San Diego were rumored to be happening at various points around the country.

As the war In Detroit raged on fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, anyone, was caught in a web of violence and revenge that extended, at times, back to Sicily. It was a sad situation.

There are many things that I love about this book. Author Waugh has placed a short glossary of Sicilian terms at the beginning of the text. If you’re like me and you’re somewhat forgetful, this makes it quite convenient to refer back to for the meaning of the words as they’re sprinkled throughout the text.

Add to that the nearly 90 pages of very extensive endnotes. I’m a footnote and endnote nerd, so it makes it very convenient for me to hold the book in one hand, with my phone or laptop in the other, surfing the web for more information about people and places.

Daniel Waugh’s narrative skills make the book easy to read, and his historian’s eye for details is impeccable. Readers can feel the chill in the air, the thickness of the humidity, or see the look of terror in a victim’s eyes as he or she realizes they’re about to experience their last breaths of life. I could feel the rage and sorrow of a victim’s family as they mourned their losses or carried out their vinnitta.

Rich or poor, in the end they all occupy a 6x6x3 piece of ground. They all become equal. Time marches relentlessly on and, if you check the web today, you’ll see a lot of those same Sicilian names among the leadership of the Detroit Mafia in 2019. There’s nothing quite like carrying on a family tradition.

At the end of his text Daniel Waugh writes: “In chronicling this turbulent period, the author hopes to document the events and also the individuals themselves so they are not lost to history…It shall be up to the reader if I have succeeded.”

Mission accomplished, Mr Waugh.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Joshua Perry

Vinnitta

Reviewed in the United States on January 22, 2020

Vinnitta: The Birth of the Detroit Mafia the latest tome by noted early organized crime historian Daniel Waugh chronicles the birth of the Detroit Mafia. Setting the stage in the southern Italy island of Sicily. The story begins with old-world vendettas between mafia connected families that would eventually make their way to America and eventually Detroit.

The book kicks off in 1901 and for the next 20 or so years in Detroit's Little Sicily and Little Italy its nothing but a feudal bloodbath. I learned so much about the early years of the Detroit mafia which little is published it was mind-blowing. With all that said and done this book is backed with just about 90 pages of endnotes citing newspaper articles, census, immigration, and death records, and further biographical info about the personalities in the book.

If you consider yourself to be someone with a remotely serious interest in the history of organized crime and you're an endnote junkie like me. You should definitely add this book to the never-ending pile of books to read.

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