Excellent Cadavers
The Mafia and the Death of the First Italian Republic
Published on 6. June 1996
Book
Paperback/Softback
480 pages
978-0-09-959491-8 (ISBN)
Description
Excellent Cadavers (a term used in Sicily to distinguish the assassination of prominent government officials from the hundreds of common criminals killed in the course of routine mafia business) tells of the remarkable investigation spearheaded by Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, the two Sicilian prosecutors who in the 1980s took the war against the Mafia further than anyone had ever dared.
In 1992, aware that the two magistrates were without the complete support of the Italian government, the Mafia assassinated them. In death they were hailed as national heroes; the massive public outcry demanded their investigations be completed. The outcome: the toppling of crucial alliances that had forged political rule in Italy since WWII and the criminal indictment of Italy's most prominent leaders.
In 1992, aware that the two magistrates were without the complete support of the Italian government, the Mafia assassinated them. In death they were hailed as national heroes; the massive public outcry demanded their investigations be completed. The outcome: the toppling of crucial alliances that had forged political rule in Italy since WWII and the criminal indictment of Italy's most prominent leaders.
Reviews / Votes
A fascinating and horrifying book -- Denis Mack Smith * New York Times * As good as non-fiction books get: it is crammed with detail and analysis, but reads like a novel -- Marc Babej * Guardian * The very best on the modern mafia - brilliantly and thoughtfully telling a complex and messy tale... The characterisation and the twists of the plot have the deft touch of a novelist -- Robert Fox * Sunday Telegraph * Totally absorbing and distinctly chilling -- Barry Unsworth * Evening Standard, Books of the Year * Diligently researched and fluently written -- Diego Gambetta * Independent *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Vintage Publishing
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 199 mm
Width: 129 mm
Thickness: 34 mm
Weight
395 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-09-959491-8 (9780099594918)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
01/2011
1st Edition
Vintage Digital
€12.99
Available for download
Person
Alexander Stille's first book, Benevolence and Betrayal: Five Italian Jewish Families Under Fascism, was chosen by the Time Literary Supplement as one of the best books of 1992, and received the Los Angeles Times Book Award for history. Since Excellent Cadavers he has written The Future of the Past and The Sack of Rome: How a Beautiful European Country with a Fabled History and a Storied Culture Was Taken Over by a Man Named Silvio Berlusconi. He has written for the Boston Globe, the New York Review of Books, the New York Times, the Toronto Globe & Mail and the New Yorker. He is also the San Paolo Professor of International Journalism at Columbia. Stille lives in New York.