Deep Water: Joseph P. Macheca and the Birth of the American Mafia

Set in the Gilded Age of New Orleans, the historical biography Deep Water: Joseph P. Macheca and the Birth of the American Mafia establishes the factual details of Macheca’s epic life story, the assassination of Police Chief David Hennessy and the Crescent City lynchings. “An excellent, meticulously detailed ... account of the birth of the American Mafia and a wonderful study of New Orleans from the Civil War/Reconstruction periods up through the famous mass lynching. Macheca comes across as a fascinating rogue. Deep Water ... shows a marvelous objectivity.” —Rick Mattix, coauthor, The Complete Public Enemy Almanac “A memorable reading experience... This book will force a reassessment of a famous event in the history of American organized crime.” —Dr. Peter Dale Scott, author, Deep Politics and the Death of JFK “Very interesting and informative. I was also happy to see my own prejudice confirmed: the Hennessy murder emerges out of the turbid racial and political situation in the city.” —James Fentress, author, Rebels and Mafiosi Through a combination of historical records and family lore, the authors trace Macheca's rise to successful merchant while concurrently describing the political and social changes in New Orleans in the last half of the 19th Century... [A] convincing analysis of the inextricability of organized crime and local politics.—Kirkus Discoveries