Underboss : Sammy the Bull Gravano's story of life in the mafia

This is the life story of Sammy "The Bull" Gravano, the highest-ranking member of the Mafia in America to break the blood oath of silence and testify against his boss, John Gotti, leader of the famous organized crime mob, the Gambino family.

His testimony in March 1992 was critical to the final conviction of Gotti - known up to that point as the "Teflon Don" for his uncanny ability to escape conviction - as well as many other underworld figures.

Today, John Gotti is serving life in prison without parole, and as a direct result of Gravano's testimony, the Mafia was gravely compromised.Through Gravano's life story, the book reveals how the Mafia exerted its grip of power from the 1940s right through to the 1980s and beyond, dominating the building and gambling industries by racketeering, using threats, beatings, murders and executions to achieve control.

But the Mafia also worked to its own codes of "honour", codes which Gravano himself was to turn against the organization, providing a twist to his story.