Customer Reviews

Comrade Criminal: Russia's New Mafiya

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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.

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.

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.

Handelman has done a wonderful job in showing the corruption of Communist society and how the greed and wish for prosperity inherent in humans all over the world has led to organized crime. It amazed me how connected to organized crime the Russian state was and still is. The sections on drugs, arms smuggling and nuclear weapons were very interesting. The book also shows how race based the crime gangs are, like they are in the United States and everywhere else. But Mr. Handelman, stop referring to them as "mafiya". Yeah, it sounds "Russian" or whatever, but it's annoying. Overall, I liked the book because it is very well researched and documented.

This is not a bad first look at the world of Russian organised crime, updated from an earlier edition. Silly the way he insists on refering to Russian OC groups as "mafiya", though.