This volume represents the first attempt to systematically compare organised crime concepts, as well as historical and contemporary patterns and control policies in thirteen European countries. These include seven 'old' EU Member States (Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom), two 'new' members (the Czech Republic and Poland), a candidate country (Turkey), and three non-EU countries (Albania, Russia and Switzerland). Based on a standardised research protocol, thirty-three experts from different legal and social disciplines provide insight through detailed country reports. On this basis, the editors compare organised crime patterns and policies in Europe and assess EU initiatives against organised crime.

Its informed analyses and unprejudiced assessments will make Organised Crime in Europe an indispensable resource for scholars, students, practitioners, and policy-makers interested in understanding the complex phenomenon of organised crime and its related control policies in Europe.

Inhalt
The History of Organised Crime.- to Part I: The History of the Concept.- The Mafia and the 'Problem of the Mafia': Organised Crime in Italy, 1820-1970.- Multiple Underworlds in the Dutch Republic of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries.- 'Many a Lord is Guilty, Indeed For Many a Poor Man's Dishonest Deed': Gangs of Robbers in Early Mode.- Banditry in Corsica: The Eighteenth to Twentieth Centuries.- From Thievish Artel to Criminal Corporation: The History of Organised Crime in Russia.- Urban Knights and Rebels in the Ottoman Empire.- Comparative Synthesis of Part I.- Contemporary Patterns of Organised Crime.- to Part II: Sources and Literature.- Organised Crime in Italy: Mafia and Illegal Markets Exception and Normality.- Crossing Borders: Organised Crime in the Netherlands.- Organised Crime in Germany: A Passe-Partout Definition Encompassing Different Phenomena.- How Organised is Organised Crime in France?.- Spain: The Flourishing Illegal Drug Haven in Europe.- The Nature and Representation of Organised Crime in the United Kingdom.- The Czech Republic: A Crossroads for Organised Crime.- Organised Crime in Poland: Its Development from 'Real Socialism' to Present Times.- Illegal Markets and Organised Crime in Switzerland: A Critical Assessment.- Organised Crime in Albania: The Ugly Side of Capitalism and Democracy.- Contemporary Russian Organised Crime: Embedded in Russian Society.- The Turkish Mafia and the State.- Comparative Synthesis of Part II.- Organised Crime Control Policies.- to Part III: The Initiatives of the European Union and the Council of Europe.- The Paradox of Effectiveness: Growth, Institutionalisation and Evaluation of Anti-Mafia Policies in Italy.- Organised Crime Policies in the Netherlands.- Organised Crime Policies in Germany.-The Control of Organised Crime in France: A Fuzzy Concept but a Handy Reference.- Organised Crime Control Policies in Spain: A 'Disorganised' Criminal Policy for 'Organised' Crime.- The Making of the United Kingdom's Organised Crime Control Policies.- Denmark on the Road to Organised Crime.- Organised Crime Policies in the Czech Republic: A Hard Road from Under-Estimation to the European Standard.- The Development of Organised Crime Policies in Poland: From Socialist Regime to 'Rechtsstaat'.- Organised Crime Policies in Switzerland: Opening the Way for a New Type of Criminal Legislation.- Organised Crime Control in Albania: The Long and Difficult Path to Meet International Standards and Develop Effective Policies.- Anti-Organised Crime Policies in Russia.- Comparative Synthesis of Part III.- Organised Crime Control Policies.- Comparative Synthesis of Part III.- General Conclusion.- General Conclusion.