Customer Rating:  
Summary: Complex, Compelling and Horrifying, Not to be Missed
Comment: In the form of "McMafia", Misha Glenny has written a first-rate book on the world of organised crime. The book opens with the narration of a brutal shooting in the UK, then discusses the fall of communism and the rise of globalisation, to take us into a world of smuggling, prostitution, gun-running, drug syndicates, drug cartels, protection rackets, money laundering, cybercrime, white collar crime, gang warfare and the manufacture of fake goods, and the connections between these, the economy, the world of business and the world of politics.
The chapters I enjoyed most were the one on Brazil, discussing cybercrime, and on Nigeria, on the subject of white-collar crime. Some of the dirty deeds committed on the orders of the Ukrainian Government, horrifying as they were, also made for an interesting read. My least favourite chapter was the one on South Africa because, of course, the subject of apartheid comes up and racial issues are a hot potato that I prefer to stay well away from.
When I first started reading "McMafia" I found the book quite hard to follow because there were so many different foreign names to remember. This made it fairly easy to put down. But as I read on, it became more and more absorbing and I'm really glad I stuck with it now. "McMafia" is a great piece of journalism and is well worth reading if you're into books on crime but are looking for something a little different.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Gripping thoughtful read
Comment: An eye-opening look at how the globalisation of organised crime effects day-to-day life-whether we like it or not.
The timing of the liberalistion of the international financial markets and the coincidental collapse of communism in central and eastern Europe and the USSR means that the face of crime has changed for ever.
And as the author points out, so long as the profits are so big and demands for illegal products so high, no amount of policing can ever stamp it out. In fact, the more resources poured in to the "War on Crime", the bigger organised crime becomes......
Customer Rating:
Summary: Very readable and jampacked full of interesting facts!
Comment: I bought this book after reading a serialisation in a paper, and found it a really fascinating read. Everything from prostitution to guns to drugs to cyber crime to diamonds to people trafficking is covered in a wide ranging examination of the globalised nature of the black market, and its enormous influence on society and politics.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Not just about the drugs!!
Comment: Ok so, like many before me, I guess I have to establish some credentials before I review.......... I have worked both inside and against (at the same time!) much of the murky world chronicled by Glenny and would consider it a pretty good outsiders account of most aspects. It creates a very good spring board for the inquisitive but will unfortunately be missed by the general masses for any real impact.
However, I have to contradict a previous reviewer (or two) in that drugs is not the main driver/funder for criminal activity these days, nor does Glenny susbscribe to this misdirection. The various major criminal groupings are more than savvy enough to have long established their own intelligence and corporate networks; these devices shrewdly keep them one step ahead of the game and dictate which commodity, because yes dear reader it is big business we are talking about here, is likely to attract the least law-enforcement scrutiny, minimum sentencing if caught and, last but by no means least, the maximum profit in individual countries that they traffick to or through.
Currently, people trafficking and smuggling (there is a distinct difference!) is top of the charts; a "re-usable" commodity, easily dispatched with very low overheads and the bonus of minimal risk through comparatively minimal prosecutions.
Do my "fellow" reviewers therefore consider that we legalise slavery, of primarily women and children with smattering of menfolk, and all that this vile trade and it's sub-trades entail in the modern world quite so glibly as they do the legalisation of drugs from their false, and dare I say naive, deductions?
Customer Rating:
Summary: Scary but true...
Comment: This a frightening but fascinating book, which brings together the keen-eyed journalism Glenny displayed in the 1990s, with a tale of the kind of organised crime that touches us all, whether we know it or not.
Glenny tours the world, and wisely does not try his hand at thriller-writing as he does so. The stories, and their contexts, are fascinating enough to be simply laid out before us. In each case, the most compelling parts are the history and analysis of how that kind of crime took off, in that place and that time. While there are undercurrents that are common throughout, what stands out starkly are the location and era-specific details of the conditions that allow major crime to flourish. I would have liked to have seen something more about how these national and international crime groups link together; however, given the amount of detail at his disposal, perhaps the author is saving this for his next book.
The level of detail is impressive, and the sources authoritative. Glenny has managed to bring in a tremendous amount of information, without leaving the reader feeling swamped and overwhelmed. The book should be compulsory reading for anyone aspiring to senior levels of government. Because what strikes this reader, is how in each case the myopia, stupidity, connivance and outright greed of governments have created the conditions for organised crime to grow and thrive.
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