The Godfather

Mario Puzo's landmark novel opens the door on the Corleones, one of the five great crime families of postwar New York. At its head is Don Vito Corleone — the Godfather — a man who dispenses favors and vengeance in equal measure, ruling his empire through loyalty, fear, and an unbending code of family honor.

When a botched assassination attempt throws the family into war, the Don's youngest son Michael — a decorated veteran who wanted nothing to do with the family business — is drawn irrevocably into its orbit. His slow transformation from reluctant outsider to cold-blooded heir is the dark heart of the novel, a study of how power passes from one generation to the next and what it costs the soul.

Sweeping, violent, and endlessly quotable, The Godfather defined the modern mafia epic and inspired one of the greatest films ever made. It is a story about family, America, and the seductive machinery of organized crime.