Long before the release of such memorable gangster films as "The Godfather "and "Bonnie and Clyde, " tough guys portrayed by Edward G. Robinson, Jimmy Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, and other pioneers in the crime genre were shooting up movie screens. This intensely readable summary of the best gangster films ever made spans the decades from the 1930s to the present day. Films cited in this book include: The Big Sleep * Bonnie and Clyde * Bullitt * Dillinger * Each Dawn I Die * Gangs of New York * The Godfather, I and II * L.A. Confidential * Little Caesar * The Petrified Forest * Scarface * This Gun for Hire * White Heat . . . and many more Films are presented in chronological order to illustrate the genreas development and the impact early artists had on later directors, actors, and technicians. Plot summaries are presented, casts and credits are listed, and illustrations include ad posters and evocative movie stills. More than 200 illustrations.

史蒂文•傑伊•施奈德（Steven Jay Schneider）是一位頗為內行的恐怖片鑒賞專傢，其撰文著述、教學授課成果頗豐，涉及電影的方方麵麵，涵蓋瞭審美學、心理分析，乃至血腥恐怖片的觀賞樂趣。為編寫《有生之年非看不可的1001部電影》及101係列電影叢書，他從世界各地集結瞭50餘位最優秀的撰稿人、評論傢、影評人、教授、影迷和電影人。這個團隊由最齣色的影評撰稿陣容組成，其成員既有巴黎《世界報》旗下的Jean-Michel Frodon，也有東京《潛流》雜誌旗下的藤原敏史，其他成員分彆來自《帝國》《視與聽》《滾石》《紐約時報》《完全電影》《國際電影指南》《洛杉磯周報》《電影季刊》《華盛頓郵報》，以及CineAction, NME, Time Out, Filmmaker, Moviemaker等媒體。