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|author=John Dickie

|reviewer=Sue Magee

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|website=http://www.johndickie.net/

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There can be few people who are unaware of the 'mafia' particularly as the word is used as a catch-all to cover the Italian criminal fraternity – and by extension the off-shoots which have spread throughout the world – but the south of Italy has three major mafias. Sicily is the birthplace of and home to Cosa Nostra, whilst Naples and its hinterland hosts the camorra. In Calabria, possibly the poorest region of Italy, you'll find the 'ndrangheta. There are plenty of myths and legends about the birth of the criminal organisations, but Professor John Dickie has looked at their early history from 1851 through to the liberation of Italy at the end of the Second World War. He looks at their rituals and their methods and much of what you will read has been a secret until now.

John Dickie has promised us a sequel to ''Blood Brotherhoods'', but in the meantime you might enjoy [[Into the Heart of the Mafia: A Journey Through the Italian South by David Lane]].

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