The relentless rise of the mafia

The 20th century saw the mafia go global. Crime groups, from Japan's yakuza to southern Italy's Kimorra, capitalized on political chaos and mass migration to spread their influence around the world. In this episode of the History Extra podcast, Ryan Gingeras traces the relentless rise of the mafia, a tale that takes Inel Capone, Pablo Escobar, and Don Corleone. Ryan was speaking to Spencer Mizen. Hello Ryan, thank you very much for joining us today.

You've just written a book on the history of organized crime called Mafia a Global History. Now, us heard the phrase organized crime to many people and now, I guess, probably think of Al Capone or the Sicilian mafia or perhaps fictional characters such as Don Corleone or Tony Soprano. However, is your book makes abundantly clear. This is a story that sort of goes back centuries, a lot further than the 20th century, and has involved numerous groups from all over the world, not just Sicily and America.

So with that in mind, I wonder if you could start by defining what exactly we're talking about when we use the word mafia. What what to you, Ryan, defines a mafia? What in your opinion sort of distinguishes a a genuine mafia? group from other crime groups. Yeah, thank you, Spencer.

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