This is a collection of short stories from around the United States on organised crime, including events and personalities on both sides of the law. The book attempts to present a human side. Included is information on the characters that relates to how families were affected by the careers, and in many cases, the demise of its participants. This is not a rehash of stories already done. Instead characters and events are given an in-depth analysis to further understand their contribution to the history of organised crime. Many stories are appearing in book form for the first time. Several topics were selected because in the past a reader might have had to look at numerous sources to piece together a complete story. Original newspaper articles were used when possible in collecting information that may have been passed over by previous writers.