The Antimafia: Italy's Fight Against Organized Crime
The Mafia has long been a negative subcultural phenomenon in Sicily and throughout Italy. Partially responsible for keeping the peasants poor and oppressed, it has used countless acts of violence and intimidation against the country's legitimate social institutions. This was especially true in 1992 and 1993, when a series of bombings highlighted the Cosa Nostra's terror campaign against the Italian state. Two very prominent anti-Mafia judges were murdered, and it was increasingly clear that corruption permeated both the political system and business life of Italy. Jamieson, a freelance writer and author (The Heart Attacked: Terrorism and Conflict in the Italian State), uses interviews with senior judges, politicians, police officers, and relatives of Mafia victims in compiling this well-written book on the efforts of law enforcement and various political groups in their fight against the Mafia. Jamieson concludes that much progress has been made, but because the Mafia has aligned itself with the legal economy and international criminal alliances, she predicts that the Mafia will continue to exist and grow. Recommended for specialized collections in criminology.-Tim Delaney, Canisius Coll., BuffaloCopyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.