When Sicily got too hot for him after the murder of a cop, Giuseppe Morello--also known as "The Clutch Hand"--made his way to America in 1892. There he started a successful counterfeiting operation in New York that soon expanded into extortion and kidnapping. Considered a capo di capi (boss of bosses), Morello was ruthless as he increased the Mafia's reach and influence; by the time he was gunned down in 1930, organized crime had entered a sort of Golden Age, dominated in New York by the Five Families. For more on the origins of the Mob in the U.S., you can also try Thomas Reppetto's American Mafia.

Expanding on a New Yorker article, journalist Patrick Radden Keefe traces the story of a Chinese immigrant in New York named Cheng Chui Ping (known as Sister Ping to her neighbors). Starting in 1982, Sister Ping built a multimillion-dollar operation smuggling in poor Chinese workers, using a violent Chinatown gang to help oversee the immigrants and maintain her power. It wasn't until 1993, when a boat carrying 300 undocumented immigrants ran aground, that the extent of her trafficking and money-laundering empire came to light. Even then, it took nearly ten years before Sister Ping was put on trial. With immigration a never-ending source of debate, this intriguing history is both fascinating and timely.

You would be forgiven for judging this book by its bodice-baring cover, for in tracing the high-profile breakup of Lord and Lady Worsley there are copious descriptions of their scandalous sexual affairs and the trial through which Sir Richard Worsley attempted to sue his wife's lover for damages to his property (said "property" being his wife). The trial revealed much in the way of bed-hopping, exposed both lord and lady to gossip and censure, and ended in one of the world's first celebrity divorces. Author Hallie Rubenhold's exposé of this Georgian naughtiness will have you "glued to the very last page" (Literary Review).

In addition to placing the Constitution and its amendments in historical context, Yale Law School professor Akhil Reed Amar offers a thought-provoking analysis of the creation of the document and delves into the interpretive disputes that have attended it over the years. If you're looking for a definitive history on America's Constitution, you've come to the right place--The Washington Post calls it "elegantly written, thorough but concise, and consistently enlightening"--but if you want something a little lighter, try Jonathan Hennessey's graphic novel, The United States Constitution.

This retelling of the events of the Philadelphia Convention of 1787 and the birth of the U.S. Constitution received much praise when it was published in 2007. Author and lawyer David Stewart grounds his tale in the records of the convention and the letters of its members, making his depictions of the quarrels, debates, and sweltering heat of that landmark summer come alive. Full of drama and fine characterization, the narrative reads like an exceedingly well-researched novel--"descriptive history at its best," says Publishers Weekly.

Once used to calm infants and still used to relieve pain, opium and its derivatives (like morphine and heroin) have also long been a major part of the world's illegal drug trade. These various uses (and the journey from medical aid to illegal substance) are just one of many topics in this fascinating chronicle of opium in history and current culture. From its role in international wars to its chemical composition, everything you might ever want to know about opium is discussed here, amid anecdotes that reference China's Kuomintang, the CIA, and the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, among others. The author followed up this treatise with Cannabis, but if you're looking for a closer look at the opium trade in Afghanistan, try Joel Hafvenstein's Opium Season.

Cigarettes first arrived on the scene as the overlooked and unprofitable sibling of chewing tobacco, pipe tobacco, and cigars...but when they finally hit the American consciousness, they did so with a vengeance still felt today. With an aggressive marketing initiative behind it, cigarette smoking came to be embraced by about half the U.S. population, despite claims of health risks. Today, the number stands at about 20%, but as this cultural, political, scientific, and legal history of the cigarette industry in the U.S. shows, cigarettes are enjoying a growth in popularity in developing nations. No matter your smoking preference, this is an informative look at a powerful industry.

This overview of the discovery, evolution, and exploitation of the big three psychoactives (alcohol, caffeine, and tobacco, according to author David Courtwright) focuses on their roles in human history, but also explains how they and more potent substances have come to play such an influential role in cultures the world over. In addition, Courtwright also covers how economic and cultural forces have encouraged the spread of drug use and abuse, and peppers his book with fun facts sure to stick in your brain.