9780061712746
Havana Nocturne
Author: T. J. English
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Publication Date: 09 June, 2009
ISBN: 9780061712746
Pages: 432
Subjects: History, Social science, True crime
Available as: ,
Description:

To underworld kingpins Meyer Lansky and Charles "Lucky" Luciano, Cuba was the greatest hope for the future of American organized crime in the post-Prohibition years. In the 1950s, the Mobā#128;#148;with the corrupt, repressive government of brutal Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista in its pocketā#128;#148;owned Havana's biggest luxury hotels and casinos, launching an unprecedented tourismboom complete with the most lavish entertainment, top-drawer celebrities, gorgeous women, and gambling galore. But Mob dreams collided with those of Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, and others who would lead an uprising of the country's disenfranchised against Batista's hated government and its foreign partnersā#128;#148;an epic cultural battle that bestselling author T. J. English captures here in all its sexy, decadent, ugly glory.

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PW Publishers Weekly
Review Source: Publishers Weekly
Review Date: 2008-02-04
Copyright: (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Old Havana mambos on the brink of the abyss in this chronicle of Cuba in the decades before the 1959 revolution. True-crime writer English (Paddy Whacked) presents an empire-building saga in which the "Havana Mob" of American gangsters, led by visionary financier Meyer Lansky, controlled Cuba. Empowered by permissive gambling laws and payoffs to dictator Fulgencio Batista, the Mafia poured millions into posh hotels, casinos and nightclubs, skimmed huge profits and sought to make Havana its financial headquarters. The results: exuberant nightlife, a giddy Afro-Cuban jazz scene, sordid backroom sex shows and the occasional grisly gangland hit. English revels in purple prose ("the island seethed like a bitch with a low-grade fever") and decadent details, including an orgy with Frank Sinatra and a bevy of prostitutes that was interrupted by autograph-seeking Girl Scouts and a nun. But his estimate of the importance of the Havana mob and its "showdown" with Castro's puritanical rebels seems inflated. More supplicant than suzerain to Batista, the mob focused on internecine feuds and paid little attention to the brewing insurrection. The casinos, hotels and nightclubs were all the mob owned-but they sure threw one hell of a party. Photos. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
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