Havana Nocturne

How the Mob Owned Cuba...and Then Lost It to the Revolution

By: T. J. English

Narrated by: Mel Foster

Length: 13 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

Bringing together long-buried historical information and English's own research in Havana - including interviews with the era's key survivors - Havana Nocturne takes listeners back to Cuba in the years when it was a veritable devil's playground for mob leaders Meyer Lansky and Charles "Lucky" Luciano. Thanks to strong ties with the island's brutal dictator, President Batista, the mob soon owned the biggest luxury hotels and casinos and launched an unprecedented tourist boom.

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.

©2008 T. J. English (P)2008 Tantor

Critic reviews

"English's engaging narrative reads with the gripping quality of fiction: the dark underworld of Havana comes to life....Highly recommended." ( Library Journal)
"Crime writer English...unfolds a story whose main outline will be familiar to any fan of The Godfather: Part II, but whose twists and turns no screenplay could keep up with." ( Kirkus Reviews)

Enjoyed, But……

I appreciated this well-researched account of the Mob’s influence and Cuban Revolution. Would have enjoyed if the narrator was Latino as the pronunciation was wanting. When Narrator made the glaring error of saying “Visa Versa” I couldn’t believe it!!!
I still recommend book, but it could have been so much better.

Not for reactionaries

This is an excellent, well researched and very listenable audiobook. T.J. English's prose is crisp and engaging and is matched with solid narration. To those reviewers who complain that the work lacks detail or that English is an apologist for Castro, I would disagree completely. English doesn't shy away from Castro's shady beginnings with the gangsterismo movement, nor does English ever contend that the Cuba revolution was not imbued with the spirit of both Marx and Marti right from its inception. I found the author balanced in his presentation of historical detail, not left wing in the slightest.

This is a true crime novel about the mob in Cuba, not a historical monograph assessing the Castro regime, and as such it succeeds and entertains.

An Extremely Interesting and Compelling Read

Havana Nocturne is a must read for anyone interested in the 1950s mafia expansion into Cuba. As a great admirer of Meyer Lansky, this book provides valuable insight into his cunning business practices and how the "Little Man" successfully led the Havana Mob. I found myself looking forward to my morning and afternoon commutes just so I could check-in on Lansky and his cohorts.

This book would be an absolute 5-stars for me, but for the narration. It took me several hours to get used to Mel Foster's dry and seemingly monotone voice, which reminded me of the teacher in Ferris Bueller.

Nonetheless, I absolutely recommended this book and hope that all my credits are as well spent.

I liked this a lot.

I don't know much about pre-Castro Havana or the Cuban Revolution, but I thought this was a good introduction. The description of the gangsters and their relationships to the Batista regime were very detailed. It is clear that the author interviewed several people who were eye witnesses, including Meyer Lansky's driver. They seem to feel some nostalgia for the era. I imagine the depiction of the revolution will not please everyone since it is rather sympathetic but I thought it was very interesting. The narration was well-done.

Fascinating

Aficionados of organized-crime history will find familiar names and settings here, but with an exotic twist. The backgrounding on Cuban culture and politics was particularly satisfying for me.I knocked off one star from my rating because this treatment didn't rise to the level of truly riveting non-fiction. But listeners just acquainting themselves with true-life characters of the mob should find it more engaging.

The narrator was all right, but his lousy pronunciation of Spanish terms irritated me enough to reduce my rating by another star. Couldn't they get a bilingual narrator for a book so steeped in Spanish language?

Very Informative

I would recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in what the golden age of gaming was in Cuba.

GOOD HISTORICAL LOOK WELL WRITTEN

Although I had lived during the Cuban Revolution, I had only a vague understanding of its circumstances. I was unaware that organized crime was really running the economy of the island. I had heard that Meyer Lansky was the Jewish Treasurer of the mob but didn't know how much of his influence was centered on Cuba. I also was unaware of the rivalry between Havana and Las Vegas.

I found the book well researched and entertaining. It is too bad that Fidel Castro didn't take his fortunate opportunity to turn the island into a true democracy. Unfortunately he turned out to be little better than his predecessor, although he did get rid of the Mob influence. Havana, the Mob, gambling and sex are the main themes of the book.

loved it

I will admit that I'm a little embarrassed that I don't know much about u.s. and cuba relationship and this book provided a very interesting perspective that has stirred my interest and has prompted me to listen to more books concerning the history of Cuba and it's relationship to the U.S.

History with Spice!

Some authoors are meant to write one great book, this could be the one for T. J. English. I believe it will be a seminal book for Cuba and the Mob. What this author does that I loved so much is the multi dimensional perspective of how everyone is portrayed. No one is all good and no one is all evil. People don't think they are doing evil when they do it, the mobsters are cool as hell if you like partying, sex, dancing, gambling and such, but they murdered and extorted. He tells you what they did and why they did it, you can make up your own mind. He contrasts the Mob's stories in with the story of Castro's revolution and their opposite philosophies. Most reviews of this book have been excellent except for a few who I suspect hate Castro for thier own reasons. The fact is as it is , the regime of Batista was corrupt even though the island was a lot of fun, there were many local cubans who resented the fact mobsters and foreigners were making millions from exploiting their homeland, wrong or right the majority rose up and kicked them out. What this author does is paint the picture of the events leading to their revolution and gives all these anecdotal stories to further deepen the understanding of the debauchery going on so one can see how even today it is hard for America's leaders to have credibility with the Cubans who know this history. Think, known U.S. criminals partying it up in Havana whoring out the local women, influencing the politics by kickbacks to the dictator, and with their friends and family living lavishly while the majority of locals lived in squalor. Mobster's still got their due, as a matter of fact one comes away from this book (at least I did) with a respect for the intelligence and vision of Meyer Lansky. This book reads like an exciting movie with multiple plots and flashbacks and an assortment of interesting characters and events. Though the narration feels stiff to start as the story heats up so does the narration.

A Winner

This book tells the story of how the mob built and lost the casinos in Havana. I downloaded the volume because I knew nothing about the topic and was well rewarded for the effort. The methods used by the mob to build their operations in Cuba and related activities in Las Vegas are told. The characters appear as very real. This is not a pro-Castro or anti-mob book. It is just a great,informative tome.