In the 1980s, the broad legal mandate of the RICO act succeeded in crushing much of the traditional American Mafia. In the Sicilian homeland of La Cosa Nostra, however, the Mafia was anything but finished. Possessed of a power thought to rival that of the Italian state itself, the Sicilian Mafia has waged a war on law and order that has not only left thousands dead, but has created a ripple effect of crime and violence that can be felt in America's cities today. Journalist Longrigg tells the story of Bernardo Provenzano, who rose from humble origins to become the head of the Sicilian Mafia, overseeing a deadly empire of corruption so large in scope, the full sweep of its dark reach has yet to be fully accounted. On the run for over 43 years before his arrest, Provenzano's life typifies the code of the ultimate gangster.--From publisher description.