White-Collar and Corporate Crime ─ A Documentary and Reference Guide

This reference for general readers and students in high school and up offers entries based around primary source documents that reveal the extent of white collar and corporate crime (from the 1800s through 2010) and efforts to combat it. Most of the primary sources profiled are official documents such as legislative orders, court testimony, and court judgments, but satirical newspaper columns and excerpts from novels are also included. Each document entry begins with a brief summary of the document's purpose, date, and significance, then presents the document or excerpt, along with interpretation and analysis. Each entry also includes a side bar or vignette that adds human interest and a list of further readings; many include a b&w photo. The reference begins with chronological entries on specific eras, such as the railroad robber barons and the muckrakers who delved into the misdeeds of the early financiers. Then entries are presented in chapters on various forms of white collar and corporate crime, such as antitrust crimes, insider trading, the Enron decade of corporate debacles, Ponzi schemes, and the economic meltdown of 2007-2008. A final chapter covers suggested remedies and the financial reform measure passed by Congress in 2010. Geis is emeritus professor at the University of California-Irvine. Annotation c2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Gilbert Geis is professor emeritus in the Department of Criminology, Law and Society at University of California, Irvine, CA.