McMafia: A Journey Through the Global Underworld [Paperback]

Starred Review. Former BBC World correspondent Glenny (The Balkans, 1804–1999) presents a riveting and chilling journey through the myriad criminal syndicates flourishing in our increasingly globalized world, which make up as much as 20% of global GNP. Tracing the growth of organized crime—ranging from the burgeoning sex trade in volatile, postcommunist Bulgaria to elaborate Internet frauds in Nigeria—Glenny expertly combines interviews with key players, economic studies and sociological analysis. He argues that the chaos and political upheaval following the demise of communism in Eastern Europe, along with increasing demand in the West and the easy flow of money and people provided the perfect opportunity for organized crime to gain a foothold on the dark side of the globalizing economy. Glenny's achievement is in introducing readers to the less familiar aspects of global crime, from Kazakhstan's caviar mafia to the flourishing marijuana trade in British Columbia. Consequently, his interview subjects are equally varied: sex slaves in Tel Aviv, a co-conspirator in the deadly 1993 Mumbai bombings and top Washington policy makers share the pages. Readers yearning for a deeper understanding of the real-life, international counterparts to The Sopranos need look no further than Glenny's engrossing study. 16 pages of photos; maps. 100,000announced first printing. (Apr. 10)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

...[McMafia] is crowded with the world's most ruthless and forward-thinking outlaws...[and] sets out to show how the process of globalization has given birth to a planet-spanning network of organized crime that mimics the growth, complexity, and entrepreneurial know-how of the legitimate economy. (Straight.com 20080501)

...demonstrating Glenny's courage, [McMafia] exhibits...characteristics of special importance...he provides insightful sociological perspectives... (Seattle Times 20080401)

...immensely informative and more than slightly scary book describes in all too vivid detail...Glenny tells the dispiriting story...[and] locates both the problem and its solution... (Washington Post 20080401)

...sprawling, ambitious...[McMafia is] a reporting odyssey...its thesis is clear, compelling, and scary: the West may have declared war on terrorism, but organized crime is by far the more serious threat to our world today and one we ignore at our peril...Glenny's journey through the international underworld is, on the whole, a rich and illuminating one. (Christian Science Monitor 20080330)

[McMafia is a]...wildly ambitious tour of organized crime in the era of globalization. (New York Times 20080101)

[Misha Glenny] tells a grisly story very well. (Sunday Times 20080401)

A riveting and chilling journey...Readers yearning for a deeper understanding of the real-life, international counterparts to The Sopranos need look no further than Glenny's engrossing study. (Publishers Weekly 20080301)

For sheer enterprise...[Misha Glenny] is hard to beat... (New York Times 20080401)

In this well-researched and riveting account, Misha Glenny dissects the international criminal organizations that run much of the world's economy and explains how the criminal underworld has benefited from and contributed to globalization. (Joseph Stiglitz 20080401)

Misha Glenny travels the world like Dante on his voyage through the 'global shadow economy'...[McMafia] makes this trip through the nastiest parts of the world as gripping as it is important. (Daily Telegraph 20080301)

Misha Glenny's eye-opening tour of the world's 'shadowing economy' of organized crime that has grown for two decades...an engrossing examination of international crime trends. (Kathleen Krog Scottsdale Tribune/The Miami Herald 20080301)

[Glenny's] book should be appreciated for the powerful wake-up call it is. Think of it as a Lonely Planet Guide to Organized Crime. Don't leave home without it. (Globe and Mail 20080401)

This is the most important non-fiction book of the year...organised crime's version of Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser's bestseller about the junk-food industry. (Mail on Sunday 20080501)

[Misha Glenny] never lets the reader go, determined to shake us into realizing none of us are safe in the end from the tentacles of the new global underworld. Glenny, a former BBC correspondent, pulls off with aplomb what is always the biggest challenge for true-crime writers: making it matter...Glenny's book should be appreciated for the powerful wake-up call it is. Think of it as a Lonely Planet Guide of Organized Crime. Don't leave home without it. (Globe and Mail 20080401)

...[McMafia is] informative and eye-opening at every page. (Spectator (U.K.) 20080201)

If we're lucky, McMafia's terrifying tour of the violent underworld of globalized crime will force this issue onto the political agenda. (New York Post 20080301)

Based on the author's skillful investigative journalism, this survey of international wrongdoing makes for fantastic reading that surprises on more than one occasion: Who knew that western Canada had more organized criminal syndicates per capita than any other nation?...A bracing, frightening ride... (Kirkus Reviews 20080301)

Smart, serious, and highly readable. (Guardian 20080401)

Gripping. (Economist 20080401)

...[McMafia is] a vividly recounted journey through a dozen of the world's most potent gangs, cartels and transnational mafias... (Wall Street Journal 20080301)

...[McMafia] is a fascinating, highly readable take on the world's crime syndicates. (Vancouver Sun 20080401)

Amid the gathering storm of international organized crime and gangster capitalism, Misha Glenny stands alone as a journalist who has ventured to the heart of the whirlwind and survived to tell the tale. The breadth of this story is staggering. His aim, deadly accurate. (William Marsden 20080401)

...Glenny makes an effective case for [organized crime] becoming a truly global force... (Toronto Star 20080401)

...horrifying but gripping...vivid and involving... (Daily Telegraph )

...Immensely informative and more than slightly scary... (Washington Post )