This is an introductory text which defines the field and sets out the parameters of state crime in all its forms: state violence, corruption, transnational crime, state involvement in corporate crime, in avoidable natural disasters, torture and illegal punishment, criminal policing, war crimes and genocide. It incorporates a thorough review of the themes, issues, and debates central to the existing literature on state crime, drawn from a range of disciplines, including criminology, human rights, international relations and political science; and develops a theoretical approach to understanding the boundaries of state crime in relation to both deviance and human rights. A distinctive feature of the book is its original empirical research which uses diverse international and thematically organized case-studies to inform it.