This enduring and fascinating chronicle of the Cleveland Mafia was written after the author's many years of research into the murders of his grandfather and three uncles, who were mob bosses. The seven Porrello brothers and four Lonardo brothers, former boyhood friends in Licata, Sicily, had a wholesale lock on corn sugar, a lucrative bootleg ingredient during Prohibition.

After a rogue business manager sparked the infamous Sugar War, teenager Angelo "Big Ange" Lonardo emerged to commit a boldly executed murder. The Porrello brothers attempted to secure their leadership by hosting the first known national meeting of the Sicilian-American Mafia. Meanwhile, bloody vendettas continued. Eventually, the Porrellos were succeeded by the powerful Mayfield Road mob. Its bosses, Frank Milano, Al Polizzi, and later, John Scalish, were allied with influential Jewish mobsters like Moe Dalitz. During the 1930s, the Cleveland crime family was third in power after those in New York City and Chicago and would have a role in developing Las Vegas.

Through the years, Big Ange Lonardo rose through the ranks to become the acting boss. After mob foe Danny "the Irishman" Greene was blown up, local, state, and federal law enforcement cooperated in successfully prosecuting the once-mighty Cleveland Mafia. Lonardo received a life sentence. However, he shocked friends, fellow mobsters, and lawmen when he cut a deal for his freedom. At the time, he was the highest-ranking Mafioso to betray omerta, the Sicilian code of silence. His testimony helped the FBI and federal prosecutors wreak havoc on crime families and their bosses across the U.S. and provided an insider's history of the American Mafia.