Enter the world of gangland crime. Some men command a respect that few others, even in this violent underworld, can equal. They live by a strict code and to them violence is simply an accepted part of their profession. Here is the fullest ever collection of 'hard man' accounts: over 30 true stories of men living on the very edge of what is 'normal' to the rest of us - the merciless streets of Mafia, Triads, Yardies, Yakuza, Hell's Angels and Chinese Tongs.

They are the faces behind a dozen urban myths, and bywords for toughness. People you just don't want to mess with. Including both recent gangsters and notorious earlier Mafia-age predecessors - from Ned Kelly, Dillinger, Capone and the Krays, to Mad Frank, Lenny 'The Guv'nor' McLean and Sonny Barger - this is the ultimate collection for anyone interested in violent true crime, how 'real' criminals think, and the darker elements of society.