During World War II, the U.S. government made an extraordinary choice: it turned to the Mafia for help.
In Operation Underworld, Matthew Black uncovers the secret alliance between Naval Intelligence and organized crime as officials scrambled to protect New York’s vulnerable waterfront from sabotage and support the Allied invasion of Sicily. At the center of the operation was imprisoned mob boss Charles “Lucky” Luciano, whose underworld connections gave the Navy access to docks, informants, and intelligence networks conventional authorities could not reach.
What began as a desperate wartime partnership soon became a tangled story of espionage, political ambition, violence, secrecy, and self-interest. Mobsters sought influence and freedom, while intelligence officers crossed ethical lines in the name of national security.
Read the Instaread summary of Operation Underworld to discover one of World War II’s strangest—and long-hidden—alliances.
