Encyclopedia of Organized Crime in the United States: From Capone's Chicago to the New Urban Underworld

(Hardback)

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Typically, other reference works on organized crime in the United States focus primarily on the Mafia and La Cosa Nostra, and neglect the many new ethnic and racial criminal organizations that permeate American society today. This reference fills those gaps while providing systematic detailed coverage of traditional crime families, individuals, significant events, and terms. More than 250 entries provide in-depth information on major underworld figures, from Al Capone to John Gotti and Sammy the Bull Gravano, and key criminal events and milestones. In addition, Kelly, an expert on organized crime, provides in-depth coverage of African American organized crime, Chinese Triads and Tongs, the Colombian drug cartels' infiltration of the U.S., Dominican drug trafficking, ecocrime, Russian organized crime, Latin gangs and criminal groups, and Vietnamese American organized crime. Significant events (such as the St. Valentine's Day Massacre) and historical milestones (such as the Apaplachian Meeting) are interwoven with contemporary trends and facts about the new underworlds emerging in American cities. Entries include data on the backgrounds of important and infamous criminals, their nicknames, organizational structure, their criminal careers, and colorful details about their lives. Also included are definitions of key phrases and terms, such as making your bones, and organization charts of traditional and new organized crime groups. Entries are placed in a social/historical context that clarifies their significance and enables the reader to appreciate the circumstances that shaped the criminal incidents and public response to them. This is the most comprehensive collection of current information on organized crime in the United States ever assembled in one volume and will be a valuable research tool for students and interested readers.

Reviews

.,."provides a valuable resource for collection development. This work is most useful for public libraries; college and university reference collections supporting undergraduate and graduate programs in criminal justice, history, and political science; and law libraries."-ARBA 2001
...provides a valuable resource for collection development. This work is most useful for public libraries; college and university reference collections supporting undergraduate and graduate programs in criminal justice, history, and political science; and law libraries.-ARBA 2001
[T]his is a fine general source....Recommended for public libraries.-Library Journal
A good choice for academic libraries and also for public libraries, as it covers so many aspects of a popular topic.-Booklist/Reference Books Bulletin
An established author on the subject of organized crime, Robert Kelly has compiled an invaluable one-volume encyclopedia on the subject that will serve as an excellent resource for students, professors, and criminal justice researchers....Aside from the alphabetical organization of the entries, Robert Kelly's Encyclopedia of Organized Crime in the United States could easily be a textbook on the subject. With its additional front and back matter, it is certainly also an instructor's resource manual. This reviewer is at serious loss in coming up with any shortcomings of this volume....The presentation of newer developments is also well selected and the supportive material is very useful. My biggest compliment to Robert Kelly is that he "spins a good yarn" and his love of this subject matter is clearly apparent in his writing and in this work.-Criminal Justice Review
Kelly, a recognized authority on organized crime, has produced a current, authoritative work essential for all academic libraries.-CHOICE
Suggested readings in each entry, an index, and a general bibliography that includes memoirs, films and government reports, assist readers will with further research in both public and academic libraries.-Lawrence Looks at Books
"This is a fine general source....Recommended for public libraries."-Library Journal
..."provides a valuable resource for collection development. This work is most useful for public libraries; college and university reference collections supporting undergraduate and graduate programs in criminal justice, history, and political science; and law libraries."-ARBA 2001
"[T]his is a fine general source....Recommended for public libraries."-Library Journal
"A good choice for academic libraries and also for public libraries, as it covers so many aspects of a popular topic."-Booklist/Reference Books Bulletin
"Kelly, a recognized authority on organized crime, has produced a current, authoritative work essential for all academic libraries."-CHOICE
"Suggested readings in each entry, an index, and a general bibliography that includes memoirs, films and government reports, assist readers will with further research in both public and academic libraries."-Lawrence Looks at Books
"An established author on the subject of organized crime, Robert Kelly has compiled an invaluable one-volume encyclopedia on the subject that will serve as an excellent resource for students, professors, and criminal justice researchers....Aside from the alphabetical organization of the entries, Robert Kelly's Encyclopedia of Organized Crime in the United States could easily be a textbook on the subject. With its additional front and back matter, it is certainly also an instructor's resource manual. This reviewer is at serious loss in coming up with any shortcomings of this volume....The presentation of newer developments is also well selected and the supportive material is very useful. My biggest compliment to Robert Kelly is that he "spins a good yarn" and his love of this subject matter is clearly apparent in his writing and in this work."-Criminal Justice Review

Author Bio

ROBERT J. KELLY is Broeklundian Professor of Social Sciences at Brooklyn College and Professor of Criminal Justice and Sociology at the Graduate School, City University of New York./e He has served as a consultant to numerous government agencies concerning terrorism, organized crime, prison administration, and extremist politics. Kelly is author of Hate Crimes: The Politics of Global Polarization (1998), African-American Organized Crime: A Social History (1997), Handbook of Organized Crime in the United States (Greenwood, 1994), and The Upperworld and the Underworld (1999).