` The bloody victory of the Corleone Family was not complete, ` begins the final chapter of Mario Puzo`s ” The Godfather”, `until a year of delicate manoeuvring established Michael Corleone as the most powerful Family chief in the United States.` ” The Godfather: The Lost Years” takes place in the years 1955-65, but it is built upon the story of that `year of delicate political manoeuvring`
- & how, in winning the battle of that year, Michael Corleone set the stage to lose the war: the war to make the Family legitimate, the war to keep the Corleones supremely in power, the war to stay true to his father`s wishes, the war to give not just his Family but his family a safe & happy life. ” The Godfather: The Lost Years” is not just a sequel. A magnificent novel in its own right, by an acclaimed young American novelist, it traces the nexus of ambitious, audacious decisions that Michael Corleone implements, their ultimate failure, &, after the Family`s literal & figurative years in the wilderness (of Las Vegas), Michael`s literal, physical return to New York, & his attempts to regain control there.