BROADCASTS.com

The Vory: Russia\u2019s Super Mafia (Yale University Press, 2018) by Mark Galeotti is an engrossing read about a topic mainstream scholarship has largely ignored: Russia\u2019s criminal underworld. With Galeotti as our guide, we delve into the colorful world of the vory v zakone or \u201cthieves of the code,\u201d with their flamboyant nicknames, esoteric rituals, and vibrant body tattoos, which Galeotti explains are very much a gangster\u2019s CV.\nThe Vory traces the development of the Russian underworld\xa0 from the horse bandits and bank robbers of the nineteenth century, through the chaos of the Revolution and the Civil, when, as Galeotti says, \u201c\u2026 the Bolsheviks won the war but lost their souls.\u201d\xa0 Galeotti\u2019s scholarship shines through the section on the vast sea change that takes place when during The Terror as the gangsters are co-opted by the State to help regulate the Gulag system.\xa0 The resulting \u201cturf war\u201d creates a new post-war type of gangster, the \u201cavtorityet,\u201d who adapt to service the needs of a society in chaotic transition.\nThe Vory also looks at the ways the Putin administration has tamed the underworld, but also the ways in which the State and the underworld are now intrinsically linked; the government even outsources unseemly tasks to the underworld, as is clear in both the 2014 Annexation of Crimea and the ongoing frozen conflict in Donbas.\nGaleotti first became interested in Russian organized crime while interviewing veterans of Russia\u2019s war with Afghanistan for his doctorate research.\xa0 He noted that many of the Afgantsy were drifting into ranks of the vorovsky mir or \u201cthieves world.\u201d\xa0 Since that time, he has delved into the topic with a unique methodology that fuses scholarship with personal encounter.\xa0 It takes a special researcher to ride around Moscow\u2019s dodgy neighborhoods in a rickety squad car wearing a well-used bullet-proof vest, but Galeotti\u2019s time has certainly not been wasted.\xa0 \u201cThe Vory\u201d is a thrilling and gripping read filled with larger-than-life, compelling characters and spot-on historical analysis.\xa0 It is marvelous window into a secret world that is constantly evolving.\nJennifer Eremeeva is an American expatriate writer who divides her time between Riga, Latvia, and New England.\xa0 Jennifer writes about travel, food, lifestyle, and Russian history and culture with bylines in Reuters, Fodor\u2019s, The Moscow Times, and Russian Life.\xa0 She is the in-house travel blogger for Alexander & Roberts, and the award-winning author of\xa0 Lenin Lives Next Door:\xa0 Marriage, Martinis, and Mayhem in Moscow.\xa0 Follow Jennifer on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook or visit jennifereremeeva.com for more.\xa0 \xa0\n\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices\nSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/law