A review by bob_muller
The Vory: Russia's Super Mafia by Mark Galeotti

5.0

Anyone interested in understanding Russian organized crime should read this book. It is by far one of the best books on criminal organizations I have ever read. Although Galeotti eschews sociological analysis of his information in favor of a more simple historical analysis approach, you can easily read between the lines to get a clear picture of how the culture and social systems of Russia contribute to the structure of criminal organizations and black/grey markets. I would have liked more information about the latter, particularly the French cheese market and its relationship to elites, sanctions, national and local politics, Putinism, and gangster opportunism, but I'm sure that would be an entire book by itself :). And I remain uncertain about the possibilities of gang warfare (indeed of state warfare, say in East Ukraine/Donbas) over French cheese (and other, more prosaic goods such as heroin, of course) and its implications for world peace.