McMafia: A Journey Through the Global Criminal Underworld

I wasn't crazy about this book and gave up halfway through. Misha tends to drone a bit about irrelevant factors that are more to do with "globalisation" and "World banking" (yawn) than his catchy title "mafia". Plus the way the book is written is not very smooth. Misha jumps around alot from subject to subject exhausting the reader with yet another...more

I wasn't crazy about this book and gave up halfway through. Misha tends to drone a bit about irrelevant factors that are more to do with "globalisation" and "World banking" (yawn) than his catchy title "mafia". Plus the way the book is written is not very smooth. Misha jumps around alot from subject to subject exhausting the reader with yet another droning of facts about customs, excise, duty and inter-govt. politics. The book lacks the really juicey mafia tales.   hide

jul 09.very readable tour of the world of organized crime, from the balkans to the mafiya of russia to the yakuza of japan, via bombay, colombia, nigeria, and tel aviv. glenny manages to get access to contacts that give him an inside view of these mafias, and he is very good at showing the conditions that give rise to protection rackets and schemes, holding back judgement where appropriate and...more

jul 09.very readable tour of the world of organized crime, from the balkans to the mafiya of russia to the yakuza of japan, via bombay, colombia, nigeria, and tel aviv. glenny manages to get access to contacts that give him an inside view of these mafias, and he is very good at showing the conditions that give rise to protection rackets and schemes, holding back judgement where appropriate and exploring the line between deplorable criminal activity, merely illegal provision of services, and activity which substitutes for legal infrastructure.   hide

Extremely interestin, if a bit scary, read. Behind the curtains look of current affairs. Should be made compulsory in every sociology, psychology and econ degree.

A fascinating look behind the scenes of globalisation, though somewhat hampered by covering so many different areas in one book so there's only room to skim the surface and not plunge in to each topic with as much depth as you might want.