The Black Book and the Mob: The Untold Story of the Control of Nevada's Casinos
In The Black Book and the Mob: The Untold Story of the Control of Nevada's Casinos, criminologists Ronald Farrell and Carole Case uncover the unfair regulation of Nevada's lucrative gambling industry. The "Black Book" is a list of "notorious and unsavory persons" prohibited from participating in Nevada gaming. By examining regulatory hearing records on gaming from 1950 to the present, Farrell and Case reveal unfair targeting of Italian-Americans and others fitting the "mafia" stereotype. The authors explore the cases of two such "excluded persons", Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal and Anthony Spilotro, also the principle characters in the Martin Scorsese film Casino. Farrell and Case maintain that the Black Book is used to make the gaming industry appear clean, that is, free of Mob influence. In fact, they say, corporate crime presents a greater and unacknowledged danger to Nevada's gambling business.  --Midwest Book Review