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With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the deregulation of international financial markets in 1989, governments and entrepreneurs alike became intoxicated by forecasts of limitless expansion into newly open markets. No one would foresee that the greatest success story to arise from these events would be the globalization of organized crime. Current estimates suggest that illegal trade accounts for nearly one-fifth of global GDP.

McMafia is a fearless, encompassing, wholly authoritative investigation of the now proven ability of organized crime worldwide to find and service markets driven by a seemingly insatiable demand for illegal wares. Whether discussing the Russian mafia, Colombian drug cartels, or Chinese labor smugglers, Misha Glenny makes clear how organized crime feeds off the poverty of the developing world, how it exploits new technology in the forms of cybercrime and identity theft, and how both global crime and terror are fueled by an identical source: the triumphant material affluence of the West.

To trace the disparate strands of this hydra-like story, Glenny talked to police, victims, politicians, and members of the global underworld in eastern Europe, North and South America, Africa, the Middle East, China, Japan, and India. The story of organized crime’s phenomenal, often shocking growth is truly the central political story of our time. McMafia will change the way we look at the world.

Average Customer Rating:

McDUMMIES	Customer Rating:
Argh !!!, never mind, Best book I have read in a while, forget what the perfectionist say. I lived abroad and I AM NOT A RACIST, when I say 75% of the world is 150 years behind us. DO NOT PROJECT YOUR IMAGE ON THE REST OF THE WORLD, It does not work. Think before you write, naive ignorant people are not liberal or conservative, there are just plain dangerous.

Interesting then tedious	Customer Rating:
He started off with exhilariting accounts of the criminal organizations which rose out of the chaos of the fall of the USSR and other sectarian wars in Eastern Europe but got bogged down in anecdote. Still, it was food for thought and spells trouble for the new world order.

Shocking...

Customer Rating:

McMafia: A Journey Through the Global Criminal Underworld (Borzoi Books) This is a well written, documented, expose' of the global criminal network and operations. The author's professional expertise and research combine to show clearly the extent of the 'darkside'. Criminal operations are far more extensive in global life and business than the great majority of people realize. Read this and remove the veil.

A Trip Around the World	Customer Rating:
Its like a documentary in a book! It was the best trip around the world that I didn't need a passport or a bullet proof vest for. This book was so good I bought one to send to my best friend so we could talk about it.

A quickie on the Mafia

Customer Rating:

This is a fairly breezy romp through the world of organized crime, from Russia to Brazil, and from Japan to Canada. The author looks at mafias and the conditions that allow for their rise: in Russia, for instance, it was the withering of the state; in Yugoslavia, the war and the embargo; in Brazil the weakness of the state and the corruption; in Columbia the civil war and demand from the United States. The book is easy to read and abounds in anecdotes and thumbnail descriptions. If you think of this book as offering a comprehensive description of the mafia, you will be disappointed: for that you will need many volumes, and a more in-depth (and probably more wearying) approach. As a quickie guide, however, it is perfect. He even gives a few explanations for why organized crime seems to thrive; there isn't one cause, but a variety: when the state is too weak (too little regulation, incapable of protecting ordinary folk) or too intrusive (trying to regulate the substances people put in their bodies, or the kinds of pleasures they want). In a nutshell, organized crime thrives when there is sudden demand, but no legitimate way to satisfy it. Read and enjoy.