"With the appearance of Homer's study, it is no longerpossible to base any serious work about organized crime on the superficialdebate over whether or not this set of activities is dominated by one or moreparticular ethnic groups," writes political scientist Michael A.Weinstein in his introduction. Homer removes the study of organizedcrime from the realm of sensationalism and ethnic chauvinism, and places it inthe context of contemporary American social structure. He reviews prevalentmyths and hypotheses about organized crime and critically analyzes them in theframework of contemporary organization theory. In this context, organized crimeis analyzed in its economic, political, ethnic, and social class dimensions. Thisbook will pose a dilemma for American citizens, Weinstein concludes: "Will wechoose to ease our consciences by pretending that organized crime is an anomalyin American society to be eliminated by punitive action against particulargroups, or will we recognize that criminal matrices functionally interlock withmany other aspects of everyday life? Only the latter recognition will permit usto make a free decision about how we will act with respect to organized crime." Listed among the outstanding books of 1974 by both AmericanScholar and Society, Guns and Garlic is a recommended selection of the NationalCriminal Justice Reference Center, a division of the Law Enforcement AssistanceAssociation of the United States Department of Justice.