Havana Nocturne Havana Nocturne

Havana Nocturne

How the Mob Owned Cuba...and Then Lost It to the Revolution

    • 4.0 • 116 Ratings
    • $14.99
    • $14.99

Publisher Description

In modern-day Havana, the remnants of the glamorous past are everywhere—old hotel-casinos, vintage American cars & flickering neon signs speak of a bygone era that is widely familiar & often romanticized, but little understood. In Havana Nocturne, T.J. English offers a multifaceted true tale of organized crime, political corruption, roaring nightlife, revolution & international conflict that interweaves the dual stories of the Mob in Havana & the event that would overshadow it, the Cuban Revolution.

As the Cuban people labored under a violently repressive regime throughout the 50s, Mob leaders Meyer Lansky & Charles "Lucky" Luciano turned their eye to Havana. To them, Cuba was the ultimate dream, the greatest hope for the future of the US Mob in the post-Prohibition years of intensified government crackdowns. But when it came time to make their move, it was Lansky, the brilliant Jewish mobster, who reigned supreme. Having cultivated strong ties with the Cuban government & in particular the brutal dictator Fulgencio Batista, Lansky brought key mobsters to Havana to put his ambitious business plans in motion. 

Before long, the Mob, with Batista's corrupt government in its pocket, owned the biggest luxury hotels & casinos in Havana, launching an unprecedented tourism boom complete with the most lavish entertainment, the world's biggest celebrities, the most beautiful women & gambling galore. But their dreams collided with those of Fidel Castro, Che Guevara & others who would lead the country's disenfranchised to overthrow their corrupt government & its foreign partners—an epic cultural battle that English captures in all its sexy, decadent, ugly glory. 

Bringing together long-buried historical information with English's own research in Havana—including interviews with the era's key survivors—Havana Nocturne takes readers back to Cuba in the years when it was a veritable devil's playground for mob leaders. English deftly weaves together the parallel stories of the Havana Mob—featuring notorious criminals such as Santo Trafficante Jr & Albert Anastasia—& Castro's 26th of July Movement in a riveting, up-close look at how the Mob nearly attained its biggest dream in Havana—& how Fidel Castro trumped it all with the revolution. 

GENRE
Nonfiction
RELEASED
2009
October 13
LANGUAGE
EN
English
LENGTH
432
Pages
PUBLISHER
William Morrow Paperbacks
SELLER
HARPERCOLLINS PUBLISHERS
SIZE
1.3
MB

Customer Reviews

debbyrg7 ,

Interesting read

The author nails colorful mob anecdotes and even my teenage son wanted to know more about “the razzle-dazzle” of the Cuban casinos. The X-rated underground well-endowed star by the name of “Superman” is also a colorful character. However, it’s hard to hear about Frank Sinatra’s involvement in the mob scene (I’m a huge fan) and Castro comes off looking too saintly at times, braving those shark-infested waters and writing “History Will Absolve Me!” while starving in prison. Sometimes the “fidelistas” sound as overwrought as the dialogue in the Jack Palance movie Che!, in which Palance sported a fake nose as Fidel Castro. Immortal dialogue: “No time for chiropady! The buzzards are circling!” The psychological portrait of Lansky is interesting throughout the book, but I was a bit disappointed in the photograph of Batista, whom the author describes as being extremely handsome. He’s no Desi Arnez. And it’s a hoot to hear an author explaining Ginger Rogers’ career to readers who may not know her from Lady Gaga.

Nickrec ,

Very entertaining read

Even if you don’t like History books. This reads like a crime thriller, very cool story.

SchroeFSU ,

Havana Nocturne

Great book that dives into the conjoined history of the Mob and the revolution in Cuba. A must read for history and cultural buffs alike.

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