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 submarines and the high-tech crimes of tomorrow, this book aims to shows just how far society has changed - and how crime has changed with us.

Often considered marginal or an aberration, we'll see how the power structures and power struggles of the criminal world have actually worked to drive progress, forming the necessary dark underbelly of humanity's evolution.

© Mark Galeotti 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025