Customer Reviews

Organized Crime: An Inside Guide to the World's Most Successful Industry

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book does a good job of covering all organized crime groups in the world.

The book starts out by giving a brief history of organized crime from the Blackbeard pirate days to the American Mafia. The book then goes into the illegal activities that are the bread and butter money makers for these organizations.

From there the author dedicates a chapter to every type of group covering, The American Mafia, Sicilian Mafia, Drug Cartels, Yakuza, Triads, and Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs. Also listed were groups that I never heard of or did not know much about like Sacra Corona, and Camorra.

The book has very good pictures and graphics. If you want to know about any of the groups in great detail, this is not the book for you. Just a good review of all organized crime in the world, and an excellent brief history on these organizations.

Excellent collection of information about organized crime throughout the world dating back to the 1800s. Along with the general text of the book which is arranged by region and semi chronologically, the books is also filled with snapshot bios of individuals and groups, graphic photos, and some maps to illustrate crime groups. Great beginning to end read but also good for a coffee table book. Well cross referenced within each topic as well.

I think the book is good literature to better understand the impact and magnitude of organised crime in U.S. and the world history, as well as its adaptations to social, wartime, and industrial/economic changes.

Highly recommended.

For a coffee table-type book of less than 200 pages, this does provide a pretty good overview of the history, structure, and operations of major organized crime groups throughout the world and also offers a wonderful photo collection. Documentation is sparse, a few common legends are recirculated, and the sidebar on the Tommygun contains some inaccuracies but it's still a much better book than I expected.

I didn't know anything about organized crime for the most part. A great overview. The book best discusses the definition of organized crime, the methods and tactics, and goes into great detail about the America Mafia more than any other group. The book also does a good job of covering the Sicilain Mafia. All the other groups he covers very briefly (2-5 pages each) but does a good job of explaining who they are, where they came from, and what they are doing. Great graphics, but I could have lived without seeing the 3-5 topless women in the book. But by far the pictures do speak a thousand words when talking about all the different people. I got what I needed form the book. It's pretty good.

When Albert Anastasia sat in the barber's chair and then gets shot by his mob opponents, it touched off decades of gang infighting. This book deals with some of those incidents and skims over others.

This is a very good book with a lot of facts and picturies.