Vito Corleone is the most respected Don of New York. He is merciless with his rivals, but also intelligent, astute and faithful to honor and friendship. His life and businesses, as well as those of his son and heir, make up the storyline of this masterpiece. With the publication of The Godfather, for the first time the Mafia was portrayed from the inside. Later, Puzo himself would write the scripts for the famous trilogy of Francis Ford Coppola.