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Wednesday, October 30, 2024
November 2024 issue of Informer
The Treacherous World
of Joseph Valachi
A rare primary source into Castellammarese War-era Mafia history, Joseph Valachi also described the early gangland of East Harlem, Manhattan and the Bronx, and provided a unique soldier-level view of New York-area organized crime from Prohibition to Apalachin. An early FBI informant, Valachi was the focus of a best-selling book and a popular movie, as well as televised Senate testimony and a lengthy autobiography. Yet, a great deal of the true Valachi story has remained untold.
Now, 60 years after Valachi put pen to paper to tell his story, a team of historians from around the globe is revealing long hidden aspects of his life and investigating the individuals who influenced him.
Contributors to the issue: Thomas Hunt (U.S.), Steve Turner (U.K.), Fabien Rossat (France), Jon Black (U.K.), Thibaut Maïquès (France), J. Michael Niotta PhD (U.S.), Thom L. Jones (New Zealand), Patrick Downey (U.S.), Ellen Poulsen (U.S.).
This Informer issue features articles on various phases of Valachi's existence in and out of "cosa nostra," bios of those who played important roles in his life and background of his time and place. The issue is illustrated with photos, documents and maps.
In addition to Informer's traditional print and electronic magazine formats, this issue is available in hardcover, paperback and ebook formats.The magazine and e-magazine editions total about 260 pages, and the book editions are about 500 pages. The available formats are compared in this table.
Type | Identifier | Dimensions | Color? | Seller | Price (USD) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
MAGAZINE LAYOUTS | |||||
Print Magazine | ISSN: 1943-7803 |
8 1/4" x 10 3/4" 262 pg incl covers |
Yes | MagCloud |
$62.00 |
PDF EMagazine1 | ISSN: 1944-8139 |
N/A | Yes | MagCloud |
$20.00* |
BOOK LAYOUTS | |||||
Print Hardcover2 | ISBN5: 9798340925138 |
6" x 9" x 1.5" 500 pages |
No | Amazon |
$32.95 |
Print Paperback2 | ISBN6: 9798340935007 |
6" x 9" x 1.25" 500 pages |
No | Amazon |
$24.75 |
Kindle EBook3 | ASIN: B0DJD793GL |
N/A | No |
Amazon |
$15.75 |
EPUB EBook4 | GGKEY: EYCX505E9B9 |
N/A | No | GooglePlay |
$15.75 |
1 - PDF document reader - such as Acrobat Reader - required. 2 - The printed books are indexed. (Ebooks/Emagazines can be searched.) 3 - Kindle device or Kindle reader software required. 4 - EPUB device or reader software - such as Calibre - required. 5 - Print hardcover also has ASIN: B0DJX7678D. 6 - Print paperback also has ASIN: B0DJXBBZ2F. * - PDF e-magazine is free with print magazine purchase. |
Issue contents
Introduction: Betrayal ranks among the worst emotional wounds in the human experience. The pain of betrayal probably impacts every person's life to some degree. But in Joseph Valachi's life story, betrayal became a strong and recurring theme...This section runs 5 magazine pages / 8 book pages.
It includes a map, an image, endnotes.
The issue contains the following articles and columns (click for additional information):
- Growing up Valachi
- The Murder Stables (Jon Black)
- Mafia minor leaguers (Thibaut Maïquès)
- Mystery victims
- How a mafioso is 'made' (J. Michael Niotta PhD)
- 'Little Apples'; big lie (Patrick Downey)
- Killing of off-dury officer linked to Valachi kin (Thomas Hunt, Ellen Poulsen)
- Valachi and women
- Valachi and 'the French Connection' (Fabien Rossat)
- Murder by Mistake
- Was Valachi insane?
- Valachi and the FBI rechristened the Mafia
- DOJ vs FBI
- Testimony was 'a mixed bag'
- Minor characters in the Valachi epic (Hunt, Steve Turner)
- Elusive Crime Figures (Hunt, Turner)
- Getting the story printed
- End of Days (Thom L. Jones)
- Valachi's exit
- Last will and testament of Joseph Valachi
- Marie Jackson mysteries remain
- Valachi's life: the motion picture
- Historians review 'Valachi papers' movie
- New books
Feature 1
Growing up Valachi
East Harlem boy becomes Mafia soldier
As the newborn “Giuseppe Vilacio” took his first breath in autumn 1903, his East Harlem community was home to an already substantial and still growing population of first- and second-generation Italian Americans...
18 magazine pages / 34 book pages.
Includes sidebar articles on New York Catholic Protectory; Anthony Valachi; John Valachi; Filomena, Maddalena, Antonetta Valachi.
Map, documents, images, endnotes.
Click for more information on this Informer issue.
Feature 2
The Murder Stables
A menacing maze of run-down structures played a significant role in the East Harlem childhood of Joseph Valachi. The structures, built and rebuilt over time from discarded building debris, packing crates and old sheet iron, stood at the corner of First Avenue and East 108th Street. They included junk and rag collection shops, wagon storage and other business uses. At the heart of the ramshackle complex was a boarding stable infamous for criminal activity. Due to its presence, the cluster of shacks acquired an evil reputation and became collectively known as the “Murder Stables”...
10 magazine pages / 17 book pages.
Map, images, endnotes.
Click for more information on this Informer issue.
Feature 3
Mafia minor leaguers
East Harlem gangsters became 'mobbed up'
5 magazine pages / 10 book pages.
Images, sources.
Click for more information on this Informer issue.
Feature 4
Mystery victims
Two killed due to underworld deal were not identified by Valachi
Consiglio |
4 magazine pages / 7 book pages.
Image, endnotes.
Click for more information on this Informer issue.
Feature 5
How a mafioso is 'made'
Comparing underworld induction ceremonies of different times and places
5 magazine pages / 10 book pages.
Images, sources.
Click for more information on this Informer issue.
Feature 6
'Little Apples'; big lie
We weren't told the truth about Valachi's early Mafia murder contract
Reggione |
4 magazine pages / 7 book pages.
Images, documents, sources.
Click for more information on this Informer issue.
Feature 7
Killing of off-dury officer linked to Valachi kin
Officer Loreto |
6 magazine pages / 12 book pages.
Images, sources.
Click for more information on this Informer issue.
Feature 8
Valachi and women
5 magazine pages / 10 book pages.
Images, endnotes.
Click for more information on this Informer issue.
Feature 10
Murder by mistake
Saupp was fatally beaten because he physically resembled a mobster
11 magazine pages / 16 book pages.
Images, endnotes.
Click for more information on this Informer issue.
Feature 9
Valachi and 'the French Connection'
Frank Caruso, Vincent Mauro, Salvatore Maneri |
On December 27, 1961, Joseph Valachi, a member of the Genovese Crime Family, and ten codefendants were convicted of importing into the United States $150 million worth of heroin. Sentenced to twenty years for this affair, it was the end of Valachi’s long racketeering career. A few months later, he would become the first penitent to publicly testify to the existence of Cosa Nostra in the U.S. While Valachi had been an important link in the drug operation, that link was near one end of a vast chain – a multinational trafficking network that the general public would later know (thanks to Director William Friedkin's 1971 film) as The French Connection...
11 magazine pages / 18 book pages.
Images, map, endnotes.
Click for more information on this Informer issue.
Feature 11
Was Valachi insane?
Joseph Valachi’s rationality and emotional stability were questioned by a number of sources on a number of occasions. Some issues were raised by Valachi’s history, actions and comments; some by the underworld colleagues he publicly betrayed; some by a critical press...
7 magazine pages / 13 book pages.
Sidebar articles on Counting up the 'crazies,' Lipton's troubles.
Images, document, endnotes.
Click for more information on this Informer issue.
Feature 12
Valachi and the FBI
rechristened the Mafia
J. Edgar Hoover |
7 magazine pages / 13 book pages.
Images, endnotes.
Click for more information on this Informer issue.
Feature 13
DOJ vs FBI
Government agencies squabbled over the release of Valachi's information
Robert Kennedy and J. Edgar Hoover |
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and its parent Department of Justice had very different ideas of what to do with informant Joseph Valachi and the organized-crime data he provided. In a feud that lasted a year, each agency worked to block and undermine the other and eventually made its own secret publicity arrangements...
8 magazine pages / 14 book pages.
Sidebar articles on Courtney Allen Evans, Miriam Ottenberg
Images, documents, endnotes.
Click for more information on this Informer issue.
Feature 14
Testimony was 'a mixed bag'
Valachi's televised appearances amounted to something less than a law enforcement triumph
12 magazine pages / 22 book pages.
Sidebar article on Early slot machine opposition.
Images, endnotes.
Click for more information on this Informer issue.