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Mafia Life: Love, Death and Money at the Heart of Organised Crime

Federico Varese

3.60 · Rating details · 136 ratings · 13 reviews

The Japanese Yakuza. The Chinese Triads. The Sicilian Cosa Nostra. The Calabrian N'Drangheta. The New York Mafia. The Russian Vory -v -Vakone.

Today, mafias operate across the globe, with hundreds of thousands of members and billions of pounds in revenue. From Hong Kong to New York, these vast organisations spread their tentacles into politics, finance and everyday life. Bu

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Kindle Edition, 288 pages

Published June 29th 2017 by Profile Books

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· 136 ratings · 13 reviews

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Sep 09, 2017 Jo-Ann Duff (Duffy The Writer) rated it really liked it

Mafia Life is one of those books which got my attention just by the book cover. Mafia movies and documentaries are my guilty pleasure. The Sopranos and movies like Goodfellas, The 25th Hour and of course The Godfather trilogy offer up old school code, flashy, trashy suits and women, with double crossing heists and dodgy deals. Even if bodies do end up gruesomely buried in cement, or hanging in freezer trucks, there is a certain glamour and allure, but does the life of a real gangster live up to Mafia Life is one of those books which got my attention just by the book cover. Mafia movies and documentaries are my guilty pleasure. The Sopranos and movies like Goodfellas, The 25th Hour and of course The Godfather trilogy offer up old school code, flashy, trashy suits and women, with double crossing heists and dodgy deals. Even if bodies do end up gruesomely buried in cement, or hanging in freezer trucks, there is a certain glamour and allure, but does the life of a real gangster live up to that of popular culture?

Author Federico Varese has infiltrated and studied organised crime across the globe for many years as a professor of criminology and offers a detailed insight from his own interviews along with a wide range of documents, books and other journalists input. Mafia Life takes us across continents and into the underbelly of the Russian and Sicilian Mafia, the Yakuza and the Triads, from initiation ‘birth’ to death.

Is Mafia Life Worth The Read?

If you are interested in how the main mafia families were started, how the money train works and just how far up the tree they go, then yes, this book is definitely for you. What I found interesting was that these criminal organisations are run more like religious sects than businesses. The rules and rituals are adhered to even today with little change and most old school rules still apply. However, the business and money side does need to grow and change if it is to survive. Where once illegal and fake goods could be shipped and sold in stores and street corners, they are now readily available on eBay. Even illegal and prescription drugs can be purchased online if you know where to look and anyone these days can become a small-time drug dealer, so how do the mafia keep ahead of the curve? What really fascinated me was just how such large sums of money can, and is, laundered through private and national banks across the world. Our own Commbank has hit the headlines recently for such investigations and makes you think just who knows who, and who is buying who.

Mafia Life is an interesting read for those who not only have an interest in the global criminal underbelly and old-school mafioso but those who are keen to follow the finances and money trail right up to the top, all adding up to billions of dollars of wealth. ...more

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Apr 13, 2020 Ola rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Książką,na której stronach ukazane jest życie mafii sycylijskiej,włosko-amerykańkiej,Yakuzy,Triad,worów czy nowych worów. Zainteresowana twórczością kryminalną zdecydowałam się na pewniejszą literaturę,która mnie nie zawiodła. Autor prostym językiem objaśnia zasady przyjmowania nowych członków mafii,wojny,które odbywały się między nimi oraz szczegóły śmierci,jakie wykonywali na swoich wrogach. Książka zdecydowanie dla ludzi o mocnych nerwach. Polecam tym,którzy oglądali film Ojciec chrzestny i s ...more

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Nov 20, 2018 Iván rated it really liked it

Libro muy interesante sobre algunas mafias del mundo

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May 19, 2019 M. Condado rated it it was amazing

The book is simply fascinating, the way it drags us into the intricacies of the Mafia world. The separation of the chapters by the themes that raise us biggest curiosity, the diverse cultures and their influence in the own rules of each Mafiosi brotherhood. The rules, the punishments, the initiations, the religiosity of all of them, but mostly the light form as the author transports us through the hardness of these world it is extraordinary. The several oficial documents that he had to read, the ...more

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Jan 17, 2020 Tosin Adeoti rated it liked it

In the early hours of today, I finished reading Federico Varese's book - Mafia Life Love, Death and Money at the Heart of Organised Crime. Federico is a Professor of Criminology at Oxford University.

In Mafia Life, we are shown what it means to be a Mafiosi - a member of the Mafia. Touching key mafia groups originating in Russia, Italy, Hong Kong and Japan the reader gets insights into the ordinary life with its complex challenges faced by these criminals as they run their organizations.

For some ...more

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Aug 26, 2020 Meg rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

l'autore ci porta attraverso le sue interviste-ricerche a conoscere come vive un mafioso togliendo quella patina di fascino oscuro da sempre trasmessa nelle trasposizioni cinematografiche
l'inserimento di foto aiuta a capire anche i molti passaggi delle cosiddette iniziazioni
il libro fin'ora che ha riscosso più letture tra i miei studenti e che suscita più curiosità riflessive ...more

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Mar 28, 2021 Rita Costa (Lusitania Geek) rated it liked it · review of another edition

Um livro sobre vários grupos criminosos como Yakuza, Vori, Cosa Nostra e a Máfia Georgiana, onde mostra como gerem, a estrutura desses grupos e influências que afetam na nossa economia.
Foi interessante, mas nada de revelante e surpreendente o que autor descreveu.

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Oct 03, 2017 Lechw rated it it was ok

Vetäviä tilannekuvauksia ja kattavaa analyysiä, mutta jotenkin jäi sekavaksi kokonaisuudeksi, ei vähiten maantieteellisen hajanaisuuden vuoksi. Ei yllä intensiteetissä lähellekään Savianoa.

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Oct 10, 2019 Olli-Pekka rated it liked it · review of another edition

Casa Nostrasta Yakuzaan ja kaikki siltä väliltä.
Hyvä katsaus mafioihin ympäri maailman.

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Dec 23, 2019 Kasia (Kącik z książką) rated it liked it · review of another edition

Dla osoby zainteresowanej tematem, Życie mafii będzie wyśmienitą, bogatą merytorycznie lekturą.

Cała opinia:
http://www.kacikzksiazka.pl/2019/09/z... ...more

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