Giovanni Bianconi
Ragazzi di malavita

Criminal Novel

This is how Giancarlo De Cataldo defined the story of the "Banda della Magliana"

But what is romantically portrayed in the book as a splendid (if we want to call it that) story of crime only partially finds its match in the actual reality of the events.

In a few years, a book, a film, and a TV series were released that sometimes only truthfully narrate the reality of the events, mostly just drawing inspiration from facts concerning this mysterious criminal entity.

But how did things really go down in the '80s in the Italian capital? How can one understand where there's truth and where the line is crossed into fiction?

Curious about this story that had so intrigued me both on paper and in its cinematic adaptation, I decided to find out more. A quick search revealed that a book that thoroughly covered the topic had existed for several years, titled "Ragazzi di malavita," written by a certain Giovanni Bianconi. A few days later, I managed to get it, and reading it, I was truly struck by how this writer had managed to put together so much material in a way that made the book not just a long list of names and facts surrounding the Banda's activities, but through fluid writing, he connects newspaper articles with actual trial depositions. In short, the style is journalistic, but everything is connected with such mastery that makes the reading fresh and flowing.

The first thought I had after finishing "Ragazzi di malavita" was to link this book to "Gomorrah," given the similarities in style and topics, but I realized it was a comparison that made no sense since Saviano's book is more of a denunciation text, and this one is a story of criminal anomaly born in our country.

If you appreciated the narrative style of Gomorrah and are interested in knowing a recent piece of Italian history, I recommend getting this book, where you won't find the friendship and moral present in the film but will find the truth of the facts, from connections with the P2, the Red Brigades, the Camorra, Cosa Nostra even reaching the Secret Services, all things linking to a single common point: The Banda della Magliana.

< «Rome is in our hands», the new bosses would say to each other, swaggering and with smiles on their faces, only interested in expanding control over the city and entering new businesses, regardless of who was behind. Drugs could come and go indiscriminately to men of the mafia, the camorra, the 'ndrangheta, the black eversion, of Middle Eastern organizations. The former robbers who had grown up in neighborhood gangs, moved on to the bigger circle of gambling den and illegal betting, and within a few years became death entrepreneurs through drug trafficking, did not care about serving or being served by this or that gang. > (from: Ragazzi Di Malavita)

(Dedicated to Franco "Er Negro" Giuseppucci. The last infamous king of Rome)