Cirules, Enrique : Mafia in Havana

Cuban novelist Cirules has ventured into the world of nonfiction with this book, which won the 1993 Casa de las Am ricas Prize for Latin American literature and the Critics' Prize in 1994. An in-depth investigation into the Mafia in Cuba, it is more a thorough exploration of the political, economic, and criminal atmosphere in Cuba from 1920 to 1958 than the "Sopranos on holiday" tell-all that the publisher's publicity materials would have readers believe. Cirules traces Mafia activities in Cuba while covering all the related bases, from U.S. foreign policy in Cuba to the Cuban economy to the Cuban underworld. Cirules has supplemented his traditional print research materials with interviews with assistants, bodyguards, female companions, and others who knew Mafiosi of the era: An extensive bibliography is included. Scholars and students will appreciate this well-researched and documented study of a subject on which little English-language material exists.