A story that reads like The Godfather has been crossed with Citizen Kane . The Deeds of My Fathers is the riveting true story of two men, a father and a son, who each started with nothing and built an empire. Generoso Pope, Sr., an Italian immigrant, arrived in New York in 1906 with only pennies in his pocket. He got a job shoveling sand, but through his intelligence, natural leadership, ruthlessness, and ability to woo powerful politicians such as Jimmy Walker and Franklin Roosevelt, he worked his way up to become the biggest provider of cement, just as it was becoming the key building material for New York, vital to landmarks such as Rockerfeller Center and Radio City Music Hall. Gene Pope, Jr. was his father's choice to inherit and run the business, but Gene's mother and two brothers forced him out, and he found himself penniless and on his own. With a loan from his godfather, mobster Frank Costello, Gene bought the New York Enquirer . He renamed it the National Enquirer and focused on the paranormal, celebrities, and the hopes and fears of Americans. Gene forced the tabloid into the supermarkets and became a powerful media force, peaking with the seven million copies sold of the blockbuster expose' on the death of Elvis. This captivating narrative, told for the first time, chronicles the emergence in America of an Italian immigrant and his son whose deeds would make them among the most prominent practitioners of power and influence in this country. Based on previously untapped sources, this book presents an archetypal story of the American century, told candidly by a consummate insider who lets all the chips--the light & the dark--fall where they may. In writing this admiring account of his grandfather Generoso and father Gene -- 'two titans' who ''changed America'' -- Pope relied on more than 500 interviews as well as extensive research done for several unpublished books on the family and its enterprises, including two projects commissioned and later aborted by his father. The result is a richly detailed tale of businessmen, mobsters, and politicians that reads like a soap opera written by Mario Puzo. . . . Throughout the book, Pope provides engrossing stories about Il Progresso's influence in New York and national elections, the long battle to win a place for the sensational Enquirer at supermarket checkouts, and Gene's tyrannical insistence on concocting gripping articles for the tabloid's millions of readers. Also included are portraits of Mussolini, Frank Sinatra, A. J. Liebling, Carlo Tresca, Joe Bonanno and Joe Profaci. Readable and revealing, and the vividly re-created scenes cry out for film treatment. --Kirkus Reviews (starred review) A true story that keeps you glued to the pages learning about money, crime, power, and the love a many beautiful women. A real page-turner. --Dominick Dunne, author of Too Much Money The Deeds of My Fathers has it all: immigrants, moguls, presidents, mafiosi, sex, success, loyalty, betrayal and that most outrageous, scandalous, audacious and -- as it turns out -- imitated of media ventures, the National Enquirer . --Peter Quinn, author of The Man Who Never Returned A fascinating ride into the subculture of organized crime. --Bob Delaney, author of Covert: My Years Infiltrating the Mob PAUL DAVID POPE, businessman, philanthropist, and now author, is a third-generation Italian-American who launched an investigation into the controversial lives of his father and grandfather almost ten years ago. His team of reporters and researchers generated more than 50,000 pages of material, conducted 450 interviews, amassed thousands of photographs, and scoured presidential papers as well as FBI and CIA files.