Product Description

Written by a veteran foreign correspondent and former Moscow bureau chief for the Toronto Star, this riveting book presents the first comprehensive investigation into the organized crime and corruption that plague Russia today. A New York Times Notable Book of 1995.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #113033 in Books
• Published on: 1997-02-27
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 408 pages

Amazon.com Review
This riveting book is the first comprehensive investigation into the organized crime and corruption that plague post-Communist Russia and sabotage its attempts at revolution and reform. 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.

From Publishers Weekly
In an alarming analysis of Russia's plunge into criminality since Gorbachev's ouster in 1991, Toronto Star foreign correspondent Handelman reports that organized crime has expanded into all areas of the post-Soviet economy. Criminal cartels control banks, stock exchanges, hotels, stores, restaurants and commercial enterprises; gangsters have transformed themselves into industrial managers; mobsters terrorize courts; and black-market crime bosses have found an ally in the ex-communist bureaucracy, forging political alliances to sabotage the reforms of perestroika. Bribery and extortion have become ubiquitous, and Handelman believes that the widespread poverty and unemployment caused by the precipitous leap into capitalism has abetted the current epidemic of murder, robbery, gangs and other lawlessness. Noting that the Russian mafia poses a danger to the West, he advocates opening Western markets to Russian goods and working closely with Russia's police to stem the criminal tide. The author interviewed dozens of Rus-sian criminals, high and low, for this trenchant investigation.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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.

Customer Reviews

How Russia was Criminalized
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.

La Plus Ca Change ....
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.

Absolutely worth reading
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.