What is the Russian Mafia? Drawing on reports from undercover police operations, documents from the Gulag archives, and in-depth interviews conducted over several years with vicitms of the mafia, criminals, and officials, this unique book provides compelling answers to the question, and challenges many widely-held views.

Challenging widely held views, this book presents a thorough account of the Russian Mafia. It charts the emergence of the group in the context of the transition to the market, the privatization of protection, and pervasive corruption. It includes reports of undercover police operations, in-depth interviews conducted over several years with the victims of the Mafia, criminals and officials, and documents from the Gulag archives. It also provides a comparative study, making references to other Mafia, such as the Japanese Yakuza, the Sicilian Cosa Nostra, and the American-Italian Mafia.

Varese deserves the highest praise for a stunning book that is of the very best academic quality in terms of scholarly rigour in its treatment of Soviet and post-Russia culture. This is a thoughtful, multidisciplinary examination of a complex phenomenom. The book is rich with data and each page bursts with insight from the experiences of all those connected to mafia activity. The Russian Mafia is that rare thing in acadmia-an un-put-downable book that prompts you to seek out more knowledge on who's who in Russian Business and Russian organised crime. I enjoyed reading it immensely and have learned much from it.