Using the basic ideas, insights, and conceptual tools of sociology, Steven Messner and Richard Rosenfeld present a provocative introduction to alternative ways of thinking about crime. They provide both a comprehensive analysis of the Anomie tradition as well as other existing theories while offering a theoretical perspective to explain the exceptionally high levels of serious crime in the United States. They integrate empirical and quantitative data with ethnographic and qualitative data to provide a succinct discussion of crime and the American dream which should prove both accessible and interesting to students.