A boss who extorted millions of dollars from his victims, Louis "Lepke" Buchalter was one of the most powerful and vicious gangsters in the country. He controlled the garment industry in New York, the unions and the manufacturers, the narcotics trade, and more importantly, an execution squad called Murder, Inc., with his partner Albert "the Mad Hatter" Anastasia. It consisted of mostly Jewish hit men with a sprinkling of Italians, and carried out over one thousand murders for the mob.

Larry E. Sullivan is associate dean, chief librarian, and professor of criminal justice at John Jay College and the graduate center at CUNY.