Frank Shanty

More than just a history of organised crime, here is the narrative of the way the Mafia was shaped by society and how, in turn, it has reshaped society. All is laid bare - the internal politics, the police and their involvement, the weapons and the murders. Beautifully illustrated with more than 500 colour plates, the book offers compulsive reading using pictures and maps to probe the extraordinary lives and violent times of this feared organisation. Its scope of interest is not confined to the Cosa Nostra. It looks at the Yakuza, Triads, Russian Mafiya, Irish and Jewish crime gangs, South American drug cartels and the international money trail.