Alexander moved over to his favourite chair in the corner of the large chamber. 'Sit, my children, sit with me,' he gently ordered them--'We are a family,' he told his children. 'And the loyalty of the family must come before everything and everyone else. We must learn from each other, protect each other, and be bound first and foremost to each other. For if we honour that commitment, we will never be vanquished - but if we falter in that loyalty, we will all be condemned-'What is a family? Mario Puzo first answered that question, unforgettably, in his landmark bestseller The Godfather; with the creation of the Corleones he forever redefined the concept of blood loyalty. Now, thirty years later, Puzo enriches us all with his ultimate vision of the subject, in a masterpiece that crowns his remarkable career: the story of the greatest crime family in Italian history - the Borgias.-In The Family, this singular novelist transports his readers back to fifteenth-century Rome and reveals the extravagance and intrigue of the Vatican as surely as he once revealed the secrets of the Mafia.

Their intermingled stories constitute a symphony of human emotion and behaviour, from pride to romance to jealousy to betrayal and murderous rage. And their time, place, and characters are recaptured in all their earthy, human grandeur, with the unerring insight and compassion that were Mario Puzo's great gifts.

"We are a family. And the loyalty of the family must come before everything and everyone else. For if we honor that commitment, we will never be vanquished--but if we falter in that loyalty, we will all be condemned."

The crowning achievement of a truly phenomenal career, Mario Puzo's final novel is a remarkable epic of greed, treachery, sin, and power beyond mortal imagination. It is a journey to a different time and place--when the Church held the ultimate authority and ambition was cloaked in robes of the richest velvet. But most of all, it is the spellbinding story of a father and his children, bonded by blood, devotion, and dark purpose, who would descend into hell to rise to challenge the heavens; a family whose name is forever emblazoned in the annals of infamy . . . Borgia!

Penguin Readers is an ELT graded reader series for learners of English as a foreign language. With carefully adapted text, new illustrations and language learning exercises, the print edition also includes instructions to access supporting material online. Titles include popular classics, exciting contemporary fiction, and thought-provoking non-fiction, introducing language learners to bestselling authors and compelling content. The eight levels of Penguin Readers follow the Common European Framework of Reference for language learning (CEFR). Exercises at the back of each Reader help language learners to practise grammar, vocabulary, and key exam skills. Before, during and after-reading questions test readers' story comprehension and develop vocabulary. The Godfather, a Level 7 Reader, is B2 in the CEFR framework. The longer text is made up of sentences with up to four clauses, introducing future perfect simple, mixed conditionals, past perfect continuous, mixed conditionals, more complex passive forms and modals for deduction in the past. Michael Corleone is determined not to join his family's criminal businesses. He wants to live a normal life and marry his American girlfriend, Kay. But when members of his family are attacked, Michael realises that he has to take revenge. Visit the Penguin Readers website Exclusively with the print edition, readers can unlock online resources including a digital book, audio edition, lesson plans and answer keys.

Michael Corleone's exile in Sicily is ending, but on the instructions of his father, The Godfather, he must bring back to him the young man known as Salvatore Giuliano - if he can find him. At sea amid the treacheries of a brutal and unfamiliar land, Michael must find a way through the labyrinthine deceits that surround him, while Giuliano prepares himself for a final confrontation with Don Croce, Capo di Capi of the Sicilian Mafia. A novel of explosive suspense, heroic action - and evil on an epic scale. In the hands of Mario Puzo's brilliantly sinister talent, the reader comes to know again the terrible magic of the Mafia.

_________________________________ The classic novel that inspired 'the greatest crime film of all time' Tyrant, blackmailer, racketeer, murderer - his influence reaches every level of American society. Meet Don Corleone, a friendly man, a just man, a reasonable man. The deadliest lord of the Cosa Nostra. The Godfather. But no man can stay on top forever, not when he has enemies on both sides of the law. As the ageing Vito Corleone nears the end of a long life of crime, his sons must step up to manage the family business. Sonny Corleone is an old hand, while World War II veteran Michael Corleone is unused to the world of crime and reluctant to plunge into the business. Both the police and ruthless rival crime lords scent blood in the water. If the Corleone family is to survive, it needs a ruthless new don. But the price of success in a violent life may be too high to bear... _________________________________ A modern masterpiece, The Godfather is a searing portrayal of the 1940s criminal underworld. Still shocking long after its initial publication, this compelling tale of blackmail, murder and family values is a true classic.

_____________________________________ From the legendary author of THE GODFATHER comes a novel of the original Italian crime family Fifteenth-century Italy. The Renaissance is in full swing, heralding a new golden age for Europe. But where there is gold - and power - there are those who are willing to do anything to get their hands on them. Enter the Borgias. Headed by Rodrigo Borgia, better known as Pope Alexander VI, this tight-knit family is fighting to keep its iron grip on Italy - but theirs is a lethal game, and the cost of failure is surely death. Scheming and plotting for their own ends are his children: Giovanni, the much-favoured golden boy; his younger brother Cesare, jealous and vicious; and Lucrezia, cunning, calculating and passionate. The Borgias face immense opposition from all quarters of Italy, but their deadliest foes may be far closer to home. _____________________________________ A tale of brutality and betrayal that crowns Mario Puzo's remarkable career _____________________________________ 'We are a family,' Alexander told his children. 'And the loyalty of the family must come before everything and everyone else. We must learn from each other, protect each other, and be bound first and foremost to each other. For if we honour that commitment, we will never be vanquished - but if we falter in that loyalty, we will all be condemned...'

Omerta, the Sicilian code of silence, has been the cornerstone of the Mafia's sense of honour for centuries. Born in the Sicilian hills, omerta carried the Mafia through a hundred years of change, but now at the century's end it is becoming a relic from a bygone age. Honour may be silent - but money talks. New York - a mob boss is assassinated. His nephew Astorre Viola and the head of the city's FBI both launch investigations into the murder. But this time silence spreads like a contagion: the silence of rival gangs, the silence of crooked bankers, even the silence of the courts. The world of the Mafia is riven with greed, and Viola knows that now is the time to claim his destiny...

A new Kennedy has been elected president. A man who has inherited all the good looks, wealth, and youthful idealism of his famous uncles. He is Francis Xavier Kennedy - and suddenly the old dynastic dream of a better America again seems possible. But the energetic new president is also haunted by the darker side of the Kennedy legacy - a legacy of tragedy that he may be powerless to escape. When his daughter is kidnapped by terrorists, President Kennedy is forced to make desperate decisions. As his violent reprisals take effect, the world holds its breath. A compelling, prescient and engrossing novel from the author of The Godfather.

Mario Puzo won international acclaim for The Godfather and his other Mafia novels. But before creating those masterpieces, Puzo wrote his first acclaimed novel The Dark Arena–an astounding story of a war-scarred young American in a battle against corruption and betrayal. . . .

After coming home at the end of World War II, Walter Mosca finds himself too restless for his civilian role in America. So he returns to Germany to find the woman he had once loved–and to start some kind of life in a vanquished country. But ahead of Walter stretches a dark landscape of defeat and intrigue, as he succumbs to the corrupting influences of a malevolent time. Now he enters a different kind of war, one in which he must make a fateful decision–between love and ambition, passion and greed, life and death. . . .

More than thirty years ago, a classic was born. A searing novel of the Mafia underworld, The Godfather introduced readers to the first family of American crime fiction, the Corleones, and the powerful legacy of tradition, blood, and honor that was passed on from father to son. With its themes of the seduction of power, the pitfalls of greed, and family allegiance, it resonated with millions of readers across the world—and became the definitive novel of the virile, violent subculture that remains steeped in intrigue, in controversy, and in our collective consciousness.

A CLASSIC TALE OF THE LOVES, CRIMES AND STRUGGLES CONFRONTED BY ONE FAMILY OF IMMIGRANTS LIVING IN NEW YORK CITY. From the barren farms of Italy to the cramped tenements of New York, Lucia Santa - wife, widow and mother of two families - must steer them through the Depression and the early years of war as they adapt to life in a strange land. However, she cannot prevent the conflict between Italian and American values - nor the violence and bloodshed which must surely follow...

"PUZO IS IN TOP FORM."

*Time



The Last Don is Mario Puzo at his finest, thrilling us with his greatest Mafia novel since The Godfather *a masterful saga of the last great American crime family and its powerful reach into Hollywood and Las Vegas.



"THE MOST ENTERTAINING READ SINCE THE GODFATHER."

*The New York Times Book Review



The Last Don is Domenico Clericuzio, a wise and ruthless old man who is determined to see his heirs established in legitimate society but whose vision is threatened when secrets from the family's past spark a vicious war between two blood cousins.



"SKILLFULLY CRAFTED . . . IT GIVES US HOLLYWOOD, LAS VEGAS, AND THE MOB IN ONE SWEET DISH."

*Los Angeles Times Book Review



The Last Don is a mesmerizing tale that takes us inside the equally corrupt worlds of the mob, the movie industry, and the casinos *where beautiful actresses and ruthless hitmen are ruled by lust and violence, where sleazy producers and greedy studio heads are drunk on power, where crooked cops and desperate gamblers play dangerous games of betrayal, and where one man controls them all. . . .



"Head-long entertainment, bubbling over with corruption, betrayal, assassinations, Richter-scale romance, and, of course, family values."

*Time



"Puzo returns after a quarter century to the terrain of his greatest success, The Godfather, to tell a second masterful tale of Mafia life."

*Variety



"A compelling tale peopled by memorable characters. . . . Puzo is a master storyteller with an uncanny facility for details that force the reader to keep the pages turning."

*USA Today

When Mario Puzo's blockbuster saga, The Godfather, was first published in 1969, critics hailed it as one of the greatest novels of our time, and "big, turbulent, highly entertaining." Since then, The Godfather has gone on to become a part of America's national culture, as well as a trilogy of landmark motion pictures. From the lavish opening scene where Don Corleone entertains guests and conducts business at his daughter's wedding...to his son, Michael, who takes his father's place to fight for his family...to the bloody climax where all family business is finished, The Godfather is an epic story of family, loyalty, and how "men of honor" live in their own world, and die by their own laws.

In a corrupt world where crooked cops and desperate gamblers play dangerous games of betrayal, one man has power over them all The Last Don is Mario Puzo at his finest - a masterful saga of the last great American crime family, the Clericuzios, and their powerful reach into Hollywood and Las Vegas. Domenico Clericuzio is a wise and ruthless man who in his old age is determined to create a life free from criminal activities for his grandchildren. But as he strives to establish his heirs in legitimate society, secrets from his family's past spark a vicious and bloody war between cousins ...

FROM THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER OF THE GODFATHER A STORY OF BIG-TIME GAMBLERS IN A FEVERISH WORLD WHERE LAW AND ORGANISED CRIME ARE ONE AND THE SAME... From New York to Las Vegas, Merlyn and his brother Artie obey their own code of honour in the ferment of contemporary America - a world of greed, lust, violence and betrayal, where the power of corruption and the corruption of power are nowhere better explored.

To Don Raymonde Aprile's children he was a loyal family member, their father's adopted "nephew." To the FBI he was a man who would rather ride his horses than do Mob business. No one knew why Aprile, the last great American Don, had adopted Astorre Viola many years before in Sicily; no one suspected how he had carefully trained him . . . and how, while the Don's children claimed respectable careers in America, Astorre Viola waited for his time to come.

Now his time has arrived. The Don is dead, his murder one bloody act in a drama of ambition and deceit--from the deadly compromises made by an FBI agent to the greed of two crooked NYPD detectives and the frightening plans of a South American mob kingpin. In a collision of enemies and lovers, betrayers and loyal soldiers, Astorre Viola will claim his destiny. Because after all these years, this moment is in his blood. . . .

efore The Godfather and The Last Don, there was Puzo's classic story about the loves, crimes and struggles confronted by one family of New York City immigrants living in Hell's Kitchen. Fresh from the farms in Italy, Lucia Santa struggles to hold her family together in a strange land. At turns poignant, comic and violent, and with a new preface by the author, The Fortunate Pilgrim is Italian-American fiction at its very best.

"From the Hardcover edition."

MARIO PUZO'S FIRST ACCLAIMED NOVEL, BEFORE HIS CREATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER, THE GODFATHER. AN ASTOUNDING STORY OF CORRUPTION AND BETRAYAL. Hardened by the brutality and desceration of three long years of war, Walter Mosca returns to America a changed man. But he has no sooner arrived than he knows he must run back to the land of the enemy, to find the woman who accepts the rage and cruelty of the world around her. In Germany, where the bitter aftermath of war is everything apparent, American cigarettes will buy almost anything. Mosca now faces a different kind of war, one in which he must make a fateful decision - between love and ambition, passion and greed, life and death...

After Mario Puzo wrote his internationally acclaimed The Godfather, he has often been imitated but never equaled. Puzo's classic novel, The Sicilian, stands as a cornerstone of his work--a lushly romantic, unforgettable tale of bloodshed, justice, and treachery. . . .

The year is 1950. Michael Corleone is nearing the end of his exile in Sicily. The Godfather has commanded Michael to bring a young Sicilian bandit named Salvatore Guiliano back with him to America. But Guiliano is a man entwined in a bloody web of violence and vendettas. In Sicily, Guiliano is a modern day Robin Hood who has defied corruption--and defied the Cosa Nostra. Now, in the land of mist-shrouded mountains and ancient ruins, Michael Corleone's fate is entwined with the dangerous legend of Salvatore Guiliano: warrior, lover, and the ultimate Siciliano.

A novel of blood and vengeance from the #1 "New York Times" bestselling author of "The Godfather."
Michael Rogan was an intelligence officer behind enemy lines in World War II Europe. But he made the mistake of falling in love, which gave him something to lose-or to be taken from him.
Captured by the Nazis, Michael was treated as an experiment. A piece of meat. A subject upon which his captors committed atrocity upon atrocity. But not before they did the same to his wife-and unborn son. He's lived with the horror of that experience for ten years.
Now, Michael Rogan has returned to Europe to find the men who tortured him. And he's going to make sure that they never have to live with the horror as he did...
They will die with it.