As if crime and race in the US were not volatile enough issues independently, there is their explosive interface. This is the territory staked out by Russell (criminology and criminal justice, U. of Maryland), who probes racial stereotypes (some perpetuated by "scientific racism"), the hoaxes they have spawned, differing views of police actions by race, and affirmative race law. A public-police contact survey and case summaries of recent racial hoaxes are appended. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc. , Portland, OR