The Business of Crime: Italians and Syndicate Crime in the United States

by Humbert S. Nelli

Book Overview

"Dr. Nelli . . . describes the kinds of crime that prevailed in Italian immigrant enclaves in America; like most American crime, then as now, Italian crime was one aspect of the so-called culture of urban poverty--boys graduated from street gangs to criminal gangs. None of these gangs were very big until Prohibition brought the Great Leap Forward, to a level that Dr. Nelli calls 'entrepreneurial crime.' His fine account makes sense of many murderous incidents, differentiates among places, and sketches individuals and the talents (Torrio's brains, Capone's brutality) that enabled them to rise in the underworld."--New Yorker

"A definitive history of organized crime in America."--American Historical Review

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0226571327
• ISBN13: 9780226571324
• Release Date: April 1981
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Length: 328 Pages
• Weight: 0.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.5" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Good Italian Mob History Book

I had to read this for a college class I took called The History of Urban Crime..This is a good book to get the general overview about the Italian Mafia...Black Hand gang was kind of a form of terrorism back then...."He is a friend of ours"...Hhehehehe....I like cover picture also...There are better, more thorough mob history books out there..But this would be a good one to start with