A modern masterpiece, The Godfather has sold millions of copies, inspired three of the finest films in recent times, and spawned a new genre in fiction. Now this landmark work has been abridged for the first time, under special arrangement with Mario Puzo. The Godfather is the epic story of organized crime in the 1940's but it is also the intimate story of the Corleone family, drawn together and ripped apart by its position at the core of the Mafia in America. Still shocking more than a quarter-century after it was first published.