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In modern-day Havana, the remnants of the glamorous past are everywhere—the old hotel-casinos, vintage American cars, and flickering neon signs speak of a bygone era that is widely familiar and often romanticized, but little understood. In Havana Nocturne, T. J. English offers a riveting, multifaceted true tale of organized crime, political corruption, roaring nightlife, revolution, and international conflict that interweaves the dual stories of the Mob in Havana and the event that would overshadow it, the Cuban Revolution.

As the Cuban people labored under a violently repressive regime throughout the 1950s, Mob leaders Meyer Lansky and Charles "Lucky" Luciano turned their eye to Havana. To them, Cuba was the ultimate dream, the greatest hope for the future of the American Mob in the post-Prohibition years of intensified government crackdowns. But when it came time to make their move, it was Lansky, the brilliant Jewish mobster, who reigned supreme. Having cultivated strong ties with the Cuban government and in particular the brutal dictator Fulgencio Batista, Lansky brought key mobsters to Havana to put his ambitious business plans in motion.

Before long, the Mob, with Batista's corrupt government in its pocket, owned the biggest luxury hotels and casinos in Havana, launching an unprecedented tourism boom complete with the most lavish entertainment, the world's biggest celebrities, the most beautiful women, and gambling galore. But their dreams collided with those of Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, and others who would lead the country's disenfranchised to overthrow their corrupt government and its foreign partners—an epic cultural battle that English captures in all its sexy, decadent, ugly glory.

Bringing together long-buried historical information with English's own research in Havana—including interviews with the era's key survivors—Havana Nocturne takes readers back to Cuba in the years when it was a veritable devil's playground for mob leaders. English deftly weaves together the parallel stories of the Havana Mob—featuring notorious criminals such as Santo Trafficante Jr. and Albert Anastasia—and Castro's 26th of July Movement in a riveting, up-close look at how the Mob nearly attained its biggest dream in Havana—and how Fidel Castro trumped it all with the Cuban Revolution.

Average Customer Rating:

Love this book!	Customer Rating:
Thoroughly enjoyable read - all the way. He weaves in and out of time, connecting the historical dots. Fascinating, for both newcomers and old-hands at this period of cuban life.

Great Historical Read	Customer Rating:
Mr. English does a great job of telling the real story, or at least as real as can be known. He also takes some time to set the record straight on some common falacies about the mob. Great book, my 16 year old now reading it.

Novel subject Matter	Customer Rating:
For those familiar with Godfather II, everybody, this is the actual story of what happened with the mob in Havana in the years after World War II and leading up to the Castro revolution. It's an absorbing read, and also reminds us how corrupt our own American government can be in readily recognizing, and supporting, dictators that are doing their bidding.

A Very Interesting Read

Customer Rating:

I'm an older person and remember reading about some of the details of the book when they happened, but this is a broad story and gives lots of inside facts that were not well-known, at least to me. Knowing how it all came out was not a hindrance at all, but made it all more engrossing to see how Fidel Castro gathered his men and overtook the opposition. The gambling details of the various casinos was also extremely interesting. I just loved this book.

Interesting, easy read.	Customer Rating:
Gangsters, entertainers and politicians come alive as T.J. English presents a facinating account of life in Havana before Castro. Well researched, the book provides an insight into how and why it was possible for Fidel to succeed in bringing communism so close to U.S. soil.