Homo Criminalis

How crime organises the world

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Homo Criminalis

By: Mark Galeotti

Narrated by: Mark Galeotti

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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

When does a bandit become a monarch? When does a gang become a government? And is organised crime at the heart of every modern state?

On a thrilling whistle-stop tour of how the world's criminal underbelly has shaped state-making, capitalism, globalisation and all forms of so-called legitimate power, Homo Criminalis shows the emergence of modern society through the evolution of the underworld and its crimes. From Chinese banditry and eighteenth-century English tea smuggling to today's cocaine submarines and the high-tech crimes of tomorrow, this book shows us how the world's dark underbelly shapes us, no matter how we try to outpace it.

Entertaining, engaging and packed full of fascinating stories, Homo Criminalis is a book for those who want to see our grand story of progress through the surprising and subversive new lens of organised crime.

© Mark Galeotti 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025

Modern

Organized Crime

True Crime

World

Crime

Exciting

China

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Critic reviews

One of the most astute political commentators on Putin and modern Russia

In Homo Criminalis, Mark Galeotti does not shy away from asking the big questions—is every state founded on a crime? Are robbers with of a code of honour a mafia or a kingdom? Why crime flourishes at times of social upheavals? His answers take us on a tour-de-force across the centuries and the continents in a book replete with poignant examples and written in his distinctive style, accessible yet precise. A must read. (Frederico Varese, author of 'Russia in Four Criminals')

From medieval bandits to modern mafias, Homo Criminalis takes us on a fast-paced journey through the underworlds that have shaped our upperworld. Combining captivating storytelling with incisive analysis, Galeotti's sweeping global history makes a compelling case that to truly understand how the world works we must understand the criminals who've helped create it. (Peter Andreas, author of 'The Illicit Global Economy: What Everyone Needs to Know')

In the study of organised crime we often don't look enough at history and in the study of history we don't look enough at organised crime. There is no one better than Galeotti to bridge the divide as he does in Homo Criminalis. His prescient and often witty narrative keeps you reading, and even if you are buried deep in the debate, there are new insights on every page. (Mark Shaw, Director of the Global Institute Against Transnational Organized Crime)

Glittering... the author’s obvious enthusiasm for the subject is matched by impressive erudition.

The readable, scary, fun beach read of new crime literature

Most relevant

As anyone who listens to his podcast “In Moscow’s shadows, it’s obvious that Mark Galeotti is a rare breed; not only a brilliant, intelligent and humorous writer but also masterful narrator. This book is excellent in its breadth of subject yet obviously painfully researched. On its own it’s great but may also serve as a fantastic primer prior to doing a deeper dive into specific criminal organisations.
Total joy.

Absolute masterclass.

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