Arresting analysis of open market mobsters

McMafia: A Journey Through the Global Criminal Underworld. By Misha Glenny, Bodley Head, €15

Misha Glenny has set himself a thankless task with the premise for his new book: an overview of global organised crime. In terms of sheer practical difficulty and complexity, this is a bit like trying to write a brief history of human life, or a bluffer’s guide to cardiothoracic surgery - although the research process is considerably more dangerous.