AFTER the Sicilian Mafia took on the Italian state and lost, it was taken over by one Bernado Provenzana who abandoned the bombs and bullets tactics for the softly-softly approach.

A shadowy figure for 43 years, often thought to be dead, he instilled a business ethic into the Mafia and a restoration of old values alongside a more sophisticated infiltration of business, law and politics. He almost comes over as an Alan Sugar sort of figure, but Clare Longrigg reminds us that he still remained a gangster with a totally different interpretation of the phrase “You’re fired”.