To underworld kingpins Meyer lansky and Charles "Lucky" Luciano, Cuba was the greatest hope for the future of American organized crime in the post-Prohibition years. In the 1950s, the Mob -- with the corrupt, repressive government of brutal Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista in its pocket -- owned Havana's biggest luxury hotels and casinos, launching an unprecedented tourism boom complete with the most lavish entertainment, top-drawer celebrities, gorgeous women, and gambling galore. But Mob dreams collided with those of Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, and others who would lead an uprising of the country's disenfranchised against Batista's hated government and its foreign partners -- an epic cultural battle the bestselling author T.J. English captures here in all its sexy, decadent, ugly glory.
"HAVANA NOCTURNE has the air of a thriller with the bonus of being true... [English's] well-researched descriptions of how business, gambling, politics, revolution, music, and religion all played off each other give [it] a broad context and a knowledgeable edge."
--Tom Miller, Washington Post Book World
You can purchase the New York Times bestseller, HAVANA NOCTURNE, online or at bookstores everywhere.
loved the book, well written, couldn't put it down.
ReplyDeleteBut . . . come on now, would you have us believe a smart cookie like Meyer lansky would be so foolish as to leave a will whose contents would be taxed, or worse grabbed by the government? No, no, the money what there was of it, and I'm sure there were many millions, went directly into the right pockets before the body was cold.
Thanks again for a wonderful read, am really impressed by the research.
luhren
Lorraine --
ReplyDeleteYou say "right pockets." I'm sure some in his family were hoping that would include them, but they were mostly left high and dry.
Thanks for your comment re: HAVANA NOCTRNE.
Regards,
T.J.E.