THE BUSINESS OF ORGANIZED CRIME. A Cosa Nostra Family.

Hardback, reprint. In 1951 the Senate hearings chaired by Estes Kefauver dramatised the existence of organised crime to the American public. Since then it has been a source of endless fascination to investigative reporters and scholars. The literature although vast, is mostly anecdotal. The questions are asked : Is organised crime a danger to the US? Is it making ever-increasing inroads into legitimate business? Does it threaten the country's economic and political institutions? This was the first book to present detailed information on a Mafia family's illegal enterprises and their legitimate business interests. It is a case study of an Italian organised criminal group of about 75 men - one of the 24 groups identified as the "core" of organised crime by the President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice. The group operated in one of America's largest cities. The author has analysed the activities of this group and their associates, using information collected by agents of the federal government as the basis of her study. Bever before had such detailed information been available to a researcher on organised crime. The resulting data offers a clear and cogent analysis of the relationship between the group's numbers gambling and loansharking enterprises and their legitimate business investments. The findings of the study are startling as well for what they do not show. While never minimizing the real dangers of organised crime, Anderson shows clearly that in many respects it is much smaller and less aggressive than the reports of the media and law enforcement officials would have the public believe. An important work. With Appendix, Citations, Bibliog. and Index. 179pp. 8vo. h/back. F. in f. dw. V. scarce.