Bücher von John Dickie

Professor John Dickie's riveting new history of Freemasonry - an organization as mysterious as it is influential.

In MAFIA REPUBLIC, John Dickie, Professor of Italian Studies at University College, London and author of the international bestsellers COSA NOSTRA and MAFIA BROTHERHOODS, shows how the Italian mafias have grown in power and become more and more interconnected, with terrifying consequences. In 1946, Italy became a democratic Republic, thereby entering the family of modern western nations. But deep within Italy there lurked a forgotten curse: three major criminal brotherhoods, whose methods had been honed over a century of experience. As Italy grew, so did the mafias. Sicily's Cosa Nostra, the camorra from Naples, and the mysterious 'ndrangheta from Calabria stood ready to enter the wealthiest and bloodiest period of their long history.Italy made itself rich by making scooters, cars and handbags. The mafias carved out their own route to wealth through tobacco smuggling, construction, kidnapping and narcotics. And as criminal business grew exponentially, the mafias grew not just more powerful, but became more interconnected.By the 1980s, Southern Italy was on the edge of becoming a narco-state. The scene was set for a titanic confrontation between heroic representatives of the law, and mafiosi who could no longer tolerate any obstacle to their ambitions. This was a war for Italy's future as a civilized country. At its peak in 1992-93, the 'ndrangheta was beheading people in the street, and the Sicilian mafia murdered its greatest enemies, investigating magistrates Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, before embarking on a major terrorist bombing campaign on the Italian mainland.Today, the long shadow of mafia history still hangs over a nation wracked by debt, political paralysis, and widespread corruption. While police put their lives on the line every day, one of Silvio Berlusconi's ministers said that Italy had to 'learn to live with the mafia'; suspicions of mafia involvement still surround some of the country's most powerful media moguls and politicians. The latest investigations show that its reach is astonishing: it controls much of Europe's wholesale cocaine trade, and representatives from as far away as Germany, Canada and Australia come to Calabria to seek authorisation for their affairs. Just when it thought it had finally contained the mafia threat, Italy is now discovering that it harbours the most global criminal network of them all.The Financial Times described John Dickie's MAFIA BROTHERHOODS as 'Powered by the sort of muscular prose that one associates with great detective fiction' and in MAFIA REPUBLIC John Dickie again marries outstanding scholarship with compelling storytelling.

Die wahre Geschichte hinter dem Mythos Der Historiker und Mafia-Experte John Dickie liefert die erste umfassende und seriöse Geschichte der Freimaurer - des Geheimbunds, der seit seiner Gründung im 18. Jahrhundert die Geschicke des Westens entscheidend mitbestimmt hat. Mozart, Goethe und Friedrich der Große gehörten dazu. George Washington, Franklin D. Roosevelt und Winston Churchill auch. Genauso wie Louis Armstrong, Walt Disney und vielleicht auch Brad Pitt. Sie alle eint der wohl mächtigste und mysteriöseste Geheimbund der Welt, die Freimaurer-Loge. Von Winkel und Zirkel im Grundstein des Kapitols bis zur Pyramide auf dem amerikanischen Dollarschein - die Symbole der Freimaurer sind eingegangen in die westliche Ikonographie der Macht. Aber wie weit reicht ihre Macht wirklich? Haben die Freimaurer die Französische Revolution ausgelöst? Stecken sie hinter den Serienmorden von Jack the Ripper? Oder steht ihr Griff nach der Weltherrschaft gar unmittelbar bevor? Der Historiker Dickie entlarvt Mythen und zeigt gleichzeitig auf: Von den aufkeimenden europäischen Nationalstaaten und der amerikanischen Unabhängigkeitserklärung bis hin zu Sklavenhandel, Imperialismus und der Frauenfrage haben die Freimaurer eine Schlüsselrolle in den Kerndebatten der westlichen Gesellschaft gespielt. John Dickie deckt das fundamentale Paradox auf, wie ausgerechnet ein geheimer und exklusiver Männerbund entscheidend zur Verbreitung der westlichen Werte von Freiheit, Gleichheit, Brüderlichkeit, Toleranz und Humanität beigetragen hat. John Dickie ist Historiker am University College London und Mafiaexperte. Nach einem Radiointerview, in dem er die Mafia als »Freimaurer für Kriminelle« bezeichnet hatte, wurde er zu einem Gespräch in die Freimaurerloge gebeten. Dies sollte der Anfang einer langen Reise auf den Spuren der Freimaurer sein - von Washington über New York nach Rom, Neapel, Wien und Paris. John Dickie, selbst kein Freimaurer, erklärt uns diesen mysteriösesten aller Geheimbünde, ohne dabei je die kritische Distanz zu verlieren.

+++Haarsträubendes True Crime: Erstmals die wahre Geschichte der gesamten Mafia mit all ihren Gesichtern - Camorra, Cosa Nostra, 'Ndrangheta. Von Bestsellerautor John Dickie+++Sie stehen für Korruption, Subventionsbetrug, Menschenhandel, Erpressung und Mord. Jeder dieser Mafiaclans hat seine eigene Geschichte, dunklen Rituale, Grausamkeiten und speziellen Geschäftmethoden. Alle drei haben ihre erbarmungslose Herrschaft international etabliert, die 'Ndrangheta hat Deutschland fest in ihrer Hand. Den blutigen Werdegang dieser einstmals lokalen Verbrecherorganisationen bis hin zu international kooperierenden Unternehmen erzählt der Bestsellerautor und Historiker John Dickie anhand beeindruckender Recherchen.Die brutale Wahrheit hinter den Mythen, glänzend erzählt, packender als jeder Krimi.

Perfect for fans of La Cucina and Stanley Tucci's Taste, a vivid and passionate celebration of Italian food that explores its rich history and how it became the world's favorite cuisine.In this "revelatory history of gourmet Italy from antiquity to today" (Publishers Weekly), the fascinating story of how one vast country comprised of uniquely distinct regions came to produce some of the most delicious and beloved foods of all time is expertly revealed. If you want to understand Italian food, it's important to recognize one central insight: Italian food is city food. It's not coincidental that so many Italian foods and dishes are named after cities: bistecca alla fiorentina, prosciutto di Parma, pizza napoletana. Italy has the world's longest unbroken tradition of urban living, and food has played an integral role in that tradition. Delizia! explores this dynamic history by focusing on one great food per city per era, beginning, of course, with the introduction of pasta by Muslims to Sicily in the Middle Ages. Each chapter relates a key moment in a single city's gastronomic past and, together, these slices of life build into a single narrative that spans the centuries and evokes the look, the atmosphere, and the taste of past and present. Celebratory and compelling, Delizia! proves that "if we are what we eat, who wouldn't want to be Italian" (The Times, London).