The first English-language book to document the men who emerged from the gulags to become Russia's much-feared crime class: the vory v zakone Mark Galeotti is the go-to expert on organized crime in Russia, consulted by governments and police around the world. Now, Western readers can explore the fascinating history of the vory v zakone, a group that has survived and thrived amid the changes brought on by Stalinism, the Cold War, the Afghan War, and the end of the Soviet experiment. The vory--as the Russian mafia is also known--was born early in the twentieth century, largely in the Gulags and criminal camps, where they developed their unique culture. Identified by their signature tattoos, members abided by the thieves' code, a strict system that forbade all paid employment and cooperation with law enforcement and the state. Based on two decades of on-the-ground research, Galeotti's captivating study details the vory's journey to power from their early days to their adaptation to modern-day Russia's free-wheeling oligarchy and global opportunities beyond.

The Japanese Yakuza. The Chinese Triads. The Sicilian Cosa Nostra. The Calabrian N'Drangheta. The New York Mafia. The Russian Vory -v -Vakone.Today, mafias operate across the globe, with hundreds of thousands of members and billions of dollars in revenue. From Hong Kong to New York, these vast organizations spread their tentacles into politics, finance and everyday life. But what is it like to belong to the Mafia? How do you join? Whatdoes it do to your loved ones? How do you make it to the top? And what happens if you break the rules?Criminologist Federico Varese draws on a lifetime's research to give us access to some of the world's most secretive societies. Mixing reportage with case studies and historical insights, this is the story of mafia as it really is: filled with boredom and drama, death and disaster, ambition andbetrayal.Infiltrating initiation ceremonies from Russia to England, visiting exclusive gambling clubs in Macau and Mafia summits in Dubai luxury hotels, Varese builds up a unique picture of life in the mafia from the inside.

Om den russiske mafia, som ikke kun er bander og organiseret krig, men også et voldeligt udtryk for den revolutionære klassekamp

An examination of Russian organized crime at home and in the U.S.

Soviet Union, 1956: Stalin is dead. With his passing, a violent regime is beginning to fracture - leaving behind a society where the police are the criminals, and the criminals are innocent. The catalyst comes when a secret manifesto composed by Stalin's successor Khrushchev is distributed to the entire nation. Its message: Stalin was a tyrant and a murderer. Its promise: The Soviet Union will transform. But there are forces at work that are unable to forgive or forget Stalin's tyranny so easily, that demand revenge of the most appalling nature. Meanwhile, former MGB officer Leo Demidov is facing his own turmoil. The two young girls he and his wife Raisa adopted have yet to forgive him for his involvement in the murder of their parents. They are not alone. Now that the truth is out, Leo, Raisa and their family are in grave danger from someone with a grudge against Leo. Someone transformed beyond recognition into the perfect model of vengeance.

To read an excerpt from this book, click here. To learn even more about Investigating the Russian Mafia and the author, click here. In a unique, new book, Joseph Serio discusses the attitudes and practices of the criminal world, business, and policing, exposing the realities of the Russian Mafia. He convincingly demonstrates that many of the forces at work in the 1990s did not originate in the Communist era or arise because of the collapse of the USSR. Crime groups whose members came from every walk of life - underworld, police, KGB, Communist Party - have been part and parcel of the Russian experience for centuries. Discover why these elements take on a particularly ominous shape in the post-Soviet world and represent a long-term challenge to law enforcement, businesses, and democracy itself for both the Russian Federation and the rest of the world. Investigating the Russian Mafia is ideal for students, law enforcement, practitioners, and business people operating in the former Soviet Union, as well as the general reader. Serio was the only American to work in the Organized Crime Control Department of the Soviet police. He later served as director of the Moscow office of a global investigation firm. "Serio offers us privileged insights from his extraordinary vantage point. Serio''s analysis of Russian organized crime is multi-faceted and interdisciplinary--providing criminological, historical, economic, political, sociological and psychological perspectives on the subject." -- Dorothy McClellan, Texas A&M University "This book should be required reading for anyone spending any time in Russia--certainly journalists and business people posted there, and students as well. Aside from the well-documented account of the lawless 1990s, it offers a rich history of Russian criminal life, from the times of Ivan the Terrible through to the Vory v zakone." -- Paul E. Richardson, Russian Life "Clear, precise, accessible... I read it with great pleasure." -- Andre Bossard, Secretary General (ret.), Interpol "Serio provides a road map to the Russian criminal mind set. Required reading for ALL law enforcement!" -- Detective Douglas Fell, Vancouver B.C. Police Department, Co-Founder Western Association of Eastern European Organized Crime Investigators "At a time when so many accounts in the West portray a one-sided and narrow view of the country, this book is a must-read to see a broader picture of the complexity inherent in Russia''s transition from authoritarianism to democracy and from a planned to a market economy." -- Joel H. Samuels, Assistant Professor, University of South Carolina School of Law "New analysis of the development and character of organized crime in Russia. A superb book! It will be instructive for law enforcement practitioners and theorists concerned with countering or understanding regional and global organized crime." -- Graham H. Turbiville, Jr., Senior Fellow and Consultant, Department of Defense military and intelligence programs, Editor of Global Dimensions of High Intensity Crime and Low Intensity Conflict "This is an important book, not only because it tells us something about the state of affairs in Russia, but also because it gives insight into things popular history is content to pass over... A comprehensive book that is very readable." -- John Lehman, BookReview.com "In sum, the originality and appeal of this book comes from the fact that it manages to be at once well documented and argued without being laboriously academic, while at the same time being accessibly written without engaging in over-simplification or losing its critical edge. It is thus a very accessible introductory text on its subject and deserves to be read widely and not only by those with a specific interest in .mafias.''" -- Gavin Slade, University of Oxford Centre for Criminology (DPhil candidate) "This well-written, very readable work is extremely well documented, including copious footnotes." -- L.L. Vucic, CHOICE Magazine, formerly, Chatham College

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 The criminal as hero appears in popular culture around the world, from Robin Hood to Ned Kelly. The Russian thief is not misunderstood, not a victim of a deprived childhood, not a good man in a bad spot. He is just an honest thief in a world where the only distinction is between those thieves who are honest about what they are and those who hide their self-interested criminality beneath judges’ robes and businessmen’s suits. #2 The Russian criminal as hero appears in popular culture around the world, from Robin Hood to Ned Kelly. The Russian thief is not misunderstood, not a victim of a deprived childhood, not a good man in a bad spot. He is just an honest thief in a world where the only distinction is between those thieves who are honest about what they are and those who hide their self-interested criminality beneath judges’ robes and businessmen’s suits. #3 Russia’s state has historically been relatively poor and inefficient in its revenue collection, and spent little on the police and the courts. The country’s police had to do more with proportionally less. #4 Russia’s state has historically been relatively poor and inefficient in its revenue collection, and spent little on the police and the courts. The country’s police had to do more with proportionally less.