This riveting book is the first comprehensive investigation into the organized crime and corruption that plague Russia today. Describing a society under the sway of gangster bosses, corrupt army generals, bank swindlers, drug dealers, and uranium thieves, the book shows how "mafiya" crime lords and still-powerful former Soviet bureaucrats-so-called "comrade criminals"-have sabotaged their country's attempt at revolution and reform. Stephen Handelman, Moscow bureau chief for The Toronto Star from 1987 to 1992, has based his book on interviews with more than 150 Russians-mobsters, police, political crusaders, former KGB agents, new millionaires, and ordinary citizens. Handelman traces the roots of the criminal underworld to elements of society that have existed on the margins of Russian life for centuries and that during the last twenty years of Soviet power became an essential arm of the black-market economy. He reveals how organized crime has flourished since the demise of totalitarianism, and how the Russian mafiya has begun to export to American cities not only guns and drugs but also its particular brand of mob violence. And he shows the detrimental effects crime has had-and will continue to have-on political and economic reform in the new states of the former Soviet Union.
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Editorial Reviews
From Scientific American
Gripping and lively, this is an account of Mafia machinations and the generally fruitless efforts of honest cops and outnumbered democratic politicians to thwart them.... One of the most comprehensive and convincing representations of what has happened in Russia since 1991.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
How Russia was Criminalized,
By BP (Herndon, VA USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Comrade Criminal: Russia's New Mafiya (Paperback)
Comrade Criminal not only lays out the power of the Russian mob, which has been done before, but also gives the reader the history of the mob's growth. And this isn't just over the last ten years or so, but pre-World War II. The author profiles the evolution of Russia's underworld and shows how the Communist era made it into what it is today. Definitely worth the read.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
La Plus Ca Change ....,
By
This review is from: Comrade Criminal: Russia's New Mafiya (Paperback)
This is a very good book explaining the genesis of the Russian mafiya and its connections to big business and the government. As someone who has been involved with Russia for the last ten years, the most troubling aspect of this book is that I have seen very little to no change in the way things are done over there. For at least the last five years I have been convinced that Russia is decades away from having a true civil society and the sad thing is that my timeline for this occuring has not yet shortened. This book helps explain why.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Absolutely worth reading,
By goING_96815 (Notting Hill, London, UNITED KINGDOM) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Comrade Criminal: Russia's New Mafiya (Paperback)
The OC in Russia have a very different background than in the West, and the book Comrade Criminal explains how OC groups prospered and got influence during the transition process from Communism. These groups didn't just have access to the political infrastructure; they also got the know-how and inherited influence over businesses. If you're interested in OC or Russian politics/history this book is absolutely worth reading.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
The instructions I was given left no room for questions. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
trade mafiya, vorovskoi mir, nomenklatura capitalists, comrade criminals, gangster capitalism, interview with author, criminal structures, former nomenklatura, billion rubles, red mercury, crime lords, million rubles Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Soviet Union, Central Committee, Central Asia, United States, Boris Yeltsin, New York, Thieves World, Cold War, Yuri Nikishin, Internal Affairs Ministry, Russian Federation, Central Bank, Commonwealth of Independent States, Eastern Europe, White House, Konstantin Tsyganov, Mikhail Gorbachev, President Yeltsin, Aleksandr Rutskoi, Aslambek Aslakhanov, Russian Far East, Russian Orthodox, Scabs War, Vladimir Kalinichenko, Civic Union New!
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
The instructions I was given left no room for questions. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
trade mafiya, vorovskoi mir, nomenklatura capitalists, comrade criminals, gangster capitalism, interview with author, criminal structures, former nomenklatura, billion rubles, red mercury, crime lords, million rubles Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Soviet Union, Central Committee, Central Asia, United States, Boris Yeltsin, New York, Thieves World, Cold War, Yuri Nikishin, Internal Affairs Ministry, Russian Federation, Central Bank, Commonwealth of Independent States, Eastern Europe, White House, Konstantin Tsyganov, Mikhail Gorbachev, President Yeltsin, Aleksandr Rutskoi, Aslambek Aslakhanov, Russian Far East, Russian Orthodox, Scabs War, Vladimir Kalinichenko, Civic Union New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 31
books:
See all 31 books this book cites
- The Soviet Mafia by Arkady Vaksberg on page 99, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- New Russians by Hedrick Smith in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
- Russian Tradition by Tibor Szamuely in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Black Hundred: The Rise of the Extreme Right in Russia by Walter Laqueur in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Hitler and Stalin: Parallel Lives by Alan Bullock in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
See all 31 books this book cites
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