William Heinemann. London: Heinemann Ltd, 1969 Large 8vo, black boards, spine lettered in gilt; unclipped dustwrapper (35s net) printed in black and silver; pp. [x], 11-446, [ii]; slight compression to head of spine; upper edge a little dusty; a couple of small smudges to the fore-edge; else a clean example; the very good dustwrapper with some even toning, particularly to backstrip and folds; lightly creased in placed, a little rubbed at ends. First UK edition. Based on the history of The Five Families operating in New York, along with allusions to several real life figures including Frank Sinatra and Frank Costello, The Godfather centres around the Corleone Family, and the destiny of one of the sons, Michael, to succeed his father as head of the empire. Set during the post-war years of 1945 to 1955, the relative peace of the rival families is broken when one of the Corleones is shot by Virgil "The Turk" Sollozzo, setting off a chain of events which involves power, greed, corruption and ultimately blood spilled in the name of family loyalty. At the time of writing, Puzo was in a state of near poverty. His previous two works had failed to sell well when he decided to change tack, and write a work which capitalised on the positive perception of the mafia at the time - something he succeeded in doing with verve. The resulting work remained on the New York Bestseller list for 67 consecutive weeks and sold over nine million copies in the first two years of publication alone. It was 1967 when a scout for Paramount contacted the President of Production Peter Bart about Puzos unfinished manuscript. Bart offered Puzo $12,500 for the book, with an additional $80,000 if the finished novel were made into a film. Desperate for money to pay off gambling debts, Puzo accepted. The resulting adaptation has become one of the most influential films ever made, and starred such names as Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Richard Castellano, and many others. It was, at one time, the highest-grossing film ever made, launched the careers of many of the actors, and won a host of Academy Awards. Puzo went on to help collaborate with two further installments, The Godfather Part II in 1974, and The Godfather Part III in 1990. Puzo also published a sequel to the novel, The Sicilian, which was adapted into film in 1987. . Very Good. Hardcover. 1st Edition. 1969.
