Blood Brothers: The Criminal Underworld of Asia

Rating:
Summary: Great Survey of Roots of Asian Crime & Its Political Ties
Review: Lintner does a good job of providing the reader with a basic understanding of the roots behind many of the predominant crime syndicates found in Asia today. The chapters are basically separated by country, although there are cross-references throughout the book. "Blood Brothers" does not cover all of the countries in Asia, and the biggest emphasis is on the Chinese "Triads" and their derivative influences across the globe. Although the text gets kind of slow sometimes with the abundance of naming and terminology used, this book should be a great resource for anyone interested in studying crime in Asia. Overall, the book is a very valuable and well-written study of the Asian underworld and its implications for global governing and U.S. foreign policy.

Rating:
Summary: Tremendous
Review: This book is simply tremendous. It provides a rare glimpse of a magnificent lost world, one I never imagined existed. It lifts the slimy rock of civilization and shows you the teeming throngs underneath. Enter 1930's Shanghai, a city with three governments, French, British and Chinese, each with their own laws, so that someone could rob a man in one part of the city, flee down the street and escape prosecution. It was a place where the chief of police was also China's most notorious gangster. Enter a world of secret societies, pimps, hustlers, hookers in high collared silk gowns split up to their thighs, gangsters who traced their origins to the Shoalin temples, gamblers, ravenous opium smokers, pirates and every other form of low life. Relive a time where a government fought two wars to force another country to do drugs, rather than ban them. All in all a fabulously researched, well written book that paints a vivid picture of bawdy times you didn't read about in history class. Maybe if they had taught this in history, it would have been a heck of a lot more fun.

Rating:
Summary: Tremendous
Review: This book is simply tremendous. It provides a rare glimpse of a magnificent lost world, one I never imagined existed. It lifts the slimy rock of civilization and shows you the teeming throngs underneath. Enter 1930's Shanghai, a city with three governments, French, British and Chinese, each with their own laws, so that someone could rob a man in one part of the city, flee down the street and escape prosecution. It was a place where the chief of police was also China's most notorious gangster. Enter a world of secret societies, pimps, hustlers, hookers in high collared silk gowns split up to their thighs, gangsters who traced their origins to the Shoalin temples, gamblers, ravenous opium smokers, pirates and every other form of low life. Relive a time where a government fought two wars to force another country to do drugs, rather than ban them. All in all a fabulously researched, well written book that paints a vivid picture of bawdy times you didn't read about in history class. Maybe if they had taught this in history, it would have been a heck of a lot more fun.