The book's first section investigates alleged turning points in the history of organized crime that are cited by criminologists but that seem to be unsubstantiated. The author points out that social scientists concerned with the state and nature of organized crime typically rely on government accounts of organized crime's history or work from exceptionally poor, often undocumented secondary sources. The book's second section looks at certain aspects of the drug trade and notes that much work is currently being done to explore illicit drug production, transportation, and distribution. The essays attempt to review historical background from about 1925 to the mid-1930's and specifically discuss the ethnicity of drug traffickers, the structure of drug syndicates, and the impact of legislation that attempted to criminalize the narcotic industry prior to World War II. The next section of the book concentrates on organized crime's fairly recent penchant for environmental criminality. Particular attention is paid to garbage and toxic waste and to the need for the proposed Waste Industry Disclosure Law. The fourth section examines the mesh of organized crime with transnational political movements, intelligence services, and political murder. Final sections focus on crime control efforts, Federal efforts directed against white collar criminals such as tax evaders, and the extension of American organized crime activities abroad. Notes and tables