The popular image of gangsters is a glamorous one - night clubs, beautiful women, hard men in tailor-made suits. These are the images we have picked up from films, television and advertising. And, real mobsters have themselves been inspired by the portrayal of their (fictional) buddies on the screen. Remember Ray Liotta's first words in the film Goodfellas? As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster - This book is a celebration of the way life imitates art. In a selection of photographs from films and newspapers, the dazzling traditional image of the gangster comes to life. Notorious mobsters from the USA, the UK and Europe are shown alongside their fictional counterparts from classic crime movies.