Excellent Cadavers: The Mafia and the Death of the First Italian Republic

by Alexander Stille

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In 1992 Italy was convulsed by two brazen Mafia assassinations of high-ranking officials. The latest "excellent cadavers" were Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, the Sicilian magistrates who had been the Cosa Nostra's most implacable enemies. Yet in the aftermath of the murders, hundreds of "men of honor" were arrested and the government that ad protected them for nearly half a century was at last driven from office. This is the story that Stille tells with such insight and immediacy in Excellent Cadavers. Combining a profound understanding of his doomed heroes with and unprecedented look into the Mafia's stringent codes and murderous rivalries, he gives us a book that has the power of a great work of history and the suspense of a true thriller.


"Riveting...a well-paced and highly informative account stocked with well-drawn characters."--Philadelphia Inquirer


"Masterful...[Stille] delivers a stiletto-sharp portrait of the bloodthirsty Sicilian mafia."--Business Week
  • ISBN10 0679768637
  • ISBN13 9780679768630
  • Publish Date 6 August 1996
  • Publish Status Active
  • Out of Print 14 July 2011
  • Publish Country US
  • Publisher Random House USA Inc
  • Imprint Vintage Books