Books such as this are crucial to understanding the issues that drive a minority of young people into the kind of lifestyles that are damaging both to them and to the rest of society.  While there is never an excuse for criminal behaviour, we need to try to understand, and tackle, the background issues, such as parenting and lack of opportunities, that lead some of our young people to consider a lifestyle of crime and gang-related violence. Emeka Egbuonu’s experience in dealing with these issues is clearly visible in this interesting and well-informed book.