Thomas Hunt

The 1000-plus page memoirs of Mafia turncoat Joseph Valachi are valuable source material for organized crime historians. The manuscript, entitled "The Real Thing - Second Government: The Expose and Inside Doings of Cosa Nostra," is one of just three authoritative inside sources on the Mafia during the period of the 1930-31 Castellammarese War (the others are published autobiographies, Vita di Capomafia by Nick Gentile and A Man of Honor by Joseph Bonanno). The Valachi memoirs were consulted and quoted by author Peter Maas for his 1968 book, The Valachi Papers , which grew into a 1972 Charles Bronson motion picture . Until now, these Joseph Valachi papers could only be accessed through the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston. I have been working to change that. I first published a couple hundred pages of the manuscript on the mafiahistory.us website some years ago. The pages were acquired through the assistance of another Mafia historian, who requested anonym...

(UPDATE: Following publication, it was learned that the discovered photograph, labeled as Maranzano by an Italian periodical, was actually NOT the Mafia boss but a German serial killer.) Print and electronic journal editions can be previewed and purchased through MagCloud Kindle e-book edition can be ordered through Amazon.

A long lost photograph of Salvatore Maranzano is discovered. Informer: The History of American Crime and Law Enforcement marks the occasion by dedicating an entire issue to the one-time American Mafia boss of bosses. (UPDATE: Following publication, it was learned that the photograph, labeled as Maranzano by an Italian periodical, was actually NOT the Mafia boss but a German serial killer.) The August 2019 special issue, with articles by Thomas Hunt, Lennert van`t Riet, David Critchley and Richard N. Warner, is available now in print and electronic editions (magazine format) and in an e-book edition (Amazon Kindle format). Visit Informer's website for more information .

The August 2019 issue of Informer will deal exclusively with Prohibition Era Mafia boss of bosses Salvatore Maranzano - life, career, assassination and post-assassination aftermath. We plan to reveal EVERYTHING about the Mafia boss! (Well..., everything we currently know.) Through articles (by organized crime historians Lennert van`t Riet, David Critchley, Richard N. Warner and Thomas Hunt), photos and maps, Informer will tackle many questions about Maranzano, including: Who was Salvatore Maranzano? What did he look like? (And what did he certainly NOT look like?) What does a recent discovery tell us about him? What was said about him by those who knew him in life? Where were the locations significant to his life and career? When did Maranzano-related events occur? Why was he important in U.S. Mafia history? How has he been portrayed by Hollywood? What do we know of Maranzano's life in Sicily? Was there really a post-Maranzano Mafia purge? The official releas...

Michael Tona and I just completed work on the two-volume historical biography, DiCarlo: Buffalo's First Family of Crime . Mafioso Joseph J. DiCarlo was once known as “the Al Capone of Buffalo” and as western New York's “Public Enemy No. 1.” DiCarlo - Vol. I Son of the region's first known Sicilian underworld boss, DiCarlo was rejected as heir to his father's criminal empire. After spending troubled years as a vassal of the influential Stefano Magaddino, DiCarlo and his underlings wandered, seeking their fortunes in Youngstown, Ohio, and Miami Beach, Florida, before returning home to witness the bloody disintegration of western New York's Mafia organization. Through the two volumes, DiCarlo's colorful and violent life story becomes a window into the history of the powerful Magaddino Crime Family and the American Mafia network. Volume I covers the period through 1937. Volume II focuses on the period 1938 to 1984 and includes an epilogue describing event...