Havana Nocturne: How the Mob Owned Cuba…and Then Lost It to

Havana Nocturne: How the Mob Owned Cuba…and Then Lost It to the Revolution

In modern-day Havana, the remnants of the glamorous past are everywhereâ€”old hotel-casinos, vintage American cars & flickering neon signs speak of a bygone era that is widely familiar & often romanticized, but little understood. InÂ 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.Â

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 partnersâ€”an epic cultural battle that English captures in all its sexy, decadent, ugly glory.Â

Bringing together long-buried historical information with English's own research in Havanaâ€”including interviews with the era's key survivorsâ€”Havana NocturneÂ 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 Mobâ€”featuring notorious criminals such as Santo Trafficante Jr & Albert Anastasiaâ€”& Castro's 26th of July Movement in a riveting, up-close look at how the Mob nearly attained its biggest dream in Havanaâ€”& how Fidel Castro trumped it all with the revolution.Â
Country USA
Manufacturer William Morrow Paperbacks
Binding Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate 2009-06-09
Format Kindle eBook

Country	USA
Manufacturer	William Morrow Paperbacks
Binding	Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate	2009-06-09
Format	Kindle eBook

Havana Nocturne: How the Mob Owned Cuba…and Then Lost It to the Revolution

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