Homo Criminalis

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 u ...

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