World Encyclopedia of Organized Crime

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.

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.