World Encyclopedia Of Organized Crime - Softcover

Nash, Jay Robert

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0306805359 ISBN 13: 9780306805356

Publisher: Da Capo Press, 1993

Synopsis

Organized crime reaches into almost every business worldwide, from the cleaning of restaurant tablecloths to the production of high-tech equipment; crime syndicates control entire neighborhoods, cities, and even nations. From its crude origins at the turn of the century to its present-day sophistication, organized crime has been marked by intimidation, corruption, and murder. World Encyclopedia of Organized Crime is an excursion into the underworld that uncovers the international scope and historical roots of today's organized crime. Brilliantly catalogued by the dean of American true-crime writers, Jay Robert Nash, this volume profiles the notorious gangsters, crime families, cartels, and gangland events that have shaped world history.Here are gangs such as the Dead Rabbits and the Whyos, who controlled nineteenth-century New York; gangsters such as Al Capone, Lucky Luciano, Bugsy Siegel, Meyer Lansky, Legs Diamond, and Dutch Schultz, who brought crime to new heights of money-making and bloodshed; and contemporary organizations such as the Medellín Cartel, the ”Pizza Connection” gangsters, the Yakuza gangs of Japan, and New York's powerful Gambino family.With hundreds of alphabetically arranged entries, an international guide to organized crime, a rogue's gallery, and an extensive bibliography, World Encyclopedia of Organized Crime is the most comprehensive and authoritative source on the subject ever compiled.

About this title

About the Author

Jay Robert Nash is widely recognized as the world's foremost encyclopedist of crime, and has authored more than seventy single-volume and multi-volume reference works, including the Encyclopedia of World Crime .

From Library Journal

According to the CIP data, this latest offering from prolifi true crime compiler Nash is "condensed from the Encyclopedia of World Crime " ( LJ 8/90). While there is a smattering of information about foreign criminals and about events, this is primarily a biographical collection concerning American mobsters, the Mafia predominantly. The main section consists of articles, ranging from less than 100 words to a few pages, with see references to related articles. There are hundreds of photographs and a lengthy bibliography (although it would have been more useful if relevant citations had been included in the text). A separate section--20 percent of the book--has very brief listings arranged geographically. Nash has a rather lurid style, geared to the general reader, not the specialist. The coverage is extensive but uneven: figures long-dead get more attention, and why, for example, does Charles Birger, an obscure 1920s rural bootlegger, rate four times the space accorded current Mafia boss John Gotti? Despite weaknesses, this book is unique and is recommended for libraries with strong organized crime collections, although presumably it won't be needed by those that already own Encyclopedia of World Crime .
- Gregor A. Preston, Univ. of California Lib., Davis
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Da Capo Press
• Publication date: 1993
• ISBN 10: 0306805359
• ISBN 13: 9780306805356
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 640