The first English-language book to document the men who emerged from the Soviet-era gulags to become Russia's international criminal class.Mark Galeotti is the go-to expert on organized crime in Russia, consulted by governments and police around the world. Now, Western readers can explore the fascinating history of the vory v zakone, a criminal organization that has survived and thrived through Stalinism, the Cold War, the Afghan War, and the end of the Sov...

Leading expert Mark Galeotti explores the undeclared war in the Donbas in 2014, illuminating the long-running Russia-Ukraine crisis.The emerging and undeclared struggle for Ukraine's south-eastern Donbas region that erupted after the Russian annexation of Crimea was at once an insurgency, a proxy war and a direct Russian intervention. At first, it was a struggle largely between local insurgents and Russian volunteers on the one side, and local security forces and p...

Written by a leading expert on modern Russia, this is an illustrated introduction to the bitter campaigns in Chechnya.In this new edition of his popular 2014 work, Mark Galeotti traces the progress of the wars in Chechnya, from the initial Russian advance through to urban battles such as Grozny, and the prolonged guerrilla warfare in the mountainous regions. Bringing the book up to date, including a revised introduction and new content on the K...

Crime doesn't just pay, it tells. What we choose to ban, penalise or prosecute says something about us; and how far the mobsters and mafias are still able to ply their trades says something about us, too.Homo Criminalis tells a thrilling tale of the world's changing values, the rise of the state and 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 s...

A masterful history of how war and insecurity, both real and perceived, have driven Russia's destiny for centuries, including the disastrous invasion of Ukraine.Putin retains his stranglehold on his position in Russia despite an almost ruinous invasion of Ukraine. The answer as to how and why can be found in Russian history. With no naturally defensible borders, and environmental factors constraining its economy, Russia has been pitched against th...

In the early years of Vladmir Putin’s Russia, Yevgeny Prigozhin emerged as one of the President’s most trusted assets. By 2023, he had become a dangerous warlord – and also one of Putin’s chief rivals in Russia’s tumultuous political climate, exiled after leading an attempted coup, and shortly after killed in a mysterious plane crash.But what is the truth about this enigmatic figure, his role in the war with Ukraine, and the chaos unleashed across Russia by his turn against Putin? ...

THE FINANICAL TIMES - BEST BOOKS OF 2022'The prolific military chronicler and analyst Mark Galeotti has produced exactly the right book at the right time.' - The TimesA history of how Putin and his conflicts have inexorably reshaped Russia, including his devastating invasion of Ukraine.Putin's Wars is a timely overview of the conflicts in which Russia has been involved since Vladimir Putin became p...

2023 ENNIE NOMINATED FOR BEST WRITINGA roleplaying game of fantastical inventions and Machiavellian politics in Renaissance Italy.It is the Year of Our Lord 1510, and one has to wonder how differently history could have played out if Niccolò Machiavelli, the military commissioner of the Republic of Florence, had not understood the true scale of Leonardo da Vinci's genius. In such a world, the visionary might simply have wasted his time painting portraits of...

An illustrated study of the history of the Moscow Kremlin, a metaphor for Russia, a symbol for its government and an enduring icon of the country.A fortified complex covering 70 acres at the heart of Moscow, behind walls up to 18m high and watched over by 20 towers, the Kremlin houses everything from Russia's seat of political power to glittering churches. This is a fortress that has evolved over time, from the original wooden guard tower built in the 11th century ...

Russian expert Mark Galeotti provides an in-depth look at the siege that pitted Ivan the Terrible and Russia's first standing army against the Khanate of Kazan, leading to Muscovy's rise.The Khanate of Kazan, one of the greatest Turkic successor states to the Mongol Golden Horde, had for generations been a thorn in Muscovy's side, raiding its lands for slaves and plunder. The newly crowned Ivan IV, who would become known as Ivan the Terrible, was determined to end ...

A history of the Red Army, Soviet Army and Russian Army in 100 years of conflict.From the chaos of the civil war to the political manoeuvring of the Cold War, Russia's armed forces have shaped the future not only of Russia but of countless other countries around the globe.The Great Bear at War: The Russian and Soviet Army, 1917–Present explores the development and struggles of Soviet and Russian armed forces across the numerous conflicts which mark...

A fascinating account of Russia's Five-Day War against Georgia in 2008, notable for its strategic mistakes which prompted President Putin to undertake major military reforms.After Georgia's independence from Russia in 1991, President Saakashvili invited NATO advisers to assist in military reforms. Separatist groups in Georgia's border provinces rebelled which led to fighting in South Ossetia during August 2008. The Russian Army invaded Georgia alongside these force...