Gripping thoughtful read, 31 Oct 2008
An eye-opening look at how the globalisation of organised crime effects day-to-day life-whether we like it or not.

The timing of the liberalistion of the international financial markets and the coincidental collapse of communism in central and eastern Europe and the USSR means that the face of crime has changed for ever.

And as the author points out, so long as the profits are so big and demands for illegal products so high, no amount of policing can ever stamp it out. In fact, the more resources poured in to the "War on Crime", the bigger organised crime becomes......

Very readable and jampacked full of interesting facts!, 28 Sep 2008
I bought this book after reading a serialisation in a paper, and found it a really fascinating read. Everything from prostitution to guns to drugs to cyber crime to diamonds to people trafficking is covered in a wide ranging examination of the globalised nature of the black market, and its enormous influence on society and politics.

Not just about the drugs!!, 12 Sep 2008
Ok so, like many before me, I guess I have to establish some credentials before I review.......... I have worked both inside and against (at the same time!) much of the murky world chronicled by Glenny and would consider it a pretty good outsiders account of most aspects. It creates a very good spring board for the inquisitive but will unfortunately be missed by the general masses for any real impact.

However, I have to contradict a previous reviewer (or two) in that drugs is not the main driver/funder for criminal activity these days, nor does Glenny susbscribe to this misdirection. The various major criminal groupings are more than savvy enough to have long established their own intelligence and corporate networks; these devices shrewdly keep them one step ahead of the game and dictate which commodity, because yes dear reader it is big business we are talking about here, is likely to attract the least law-enforcement scrutiny, minimum sentencing if caught and, last but by no means least, the maximum profit in individual countries that they traffick to or through.

Currently, people trafficking and smuggling (there is a distinct difference!) is top of the charts; a "re-usable" commodity, easily dispatched with very low overheads and the bonus of minimal risk through comparatively minimal prosecutions.

Do my "fellow" reviewers therefore consider that we legalise slavery, of primarily women and children with smattering of menfolk, and all that this vile trade and it's sub-trades entail in the modern world quite so glibly as they do the legalisation of drugs from their false, and dare I say naive, deductions?

Scary but true..., 11 Jun 2008
This a frightening but fascinating book, which brings together the keen-eyed journalism Glenny displayed in the 1990s, with a tale of the kind of organised crime that touches us all, whether we know it or not.

Glenny tours the world, and wisely does not try his hand at thriller-writing as he does so. The stories, and their contexts, are fascinating enough to be simply laid out before us. In each case, the most compelling parts are the history and analysis of how that kind of crime took off, in that place and that time. While there are undercurrents that are common throughout, what stands out starkly are the location and era-specific details of the conditions that allow major crime to flourish. I would have liked to have seen something more about how these national and international crime groups link together; however, given the amount of detail at his disposal, perhaps the author is saving this for his next book.

The level of detail is impressive, and the sources authoritative. Glenny has managed to bring in a tremendous amount of information, without leaving the reader feeling swamped and overwhelmed. The book should be compulsory reading for anyone aspiring to senior levels of government. Because what strikes this reader, is how in each case the myopia, stupidity, connivance and outright greed of governments have created the conditions for organised crime to grow and thrive.


Indepth Study, 14 May 2008
Misha Glenny delves deep into organised crime in this study of a post cold-war, globalised world. Indepth and at times utterly fascinating this book covers a wide blanket of criminals from the Balkans to India, from Colombia to Russia and beyond.
However the linkage between each criminal group is not evident and there is not a significant coherant argument concerning globalisation. On one hand he appears to advocate the legalisation of all drugs whilst on the other going into great detail concerning tobacco smuggling and counterfeiting and the negative effects this causes.
The pace is at times frantic and it is sometimes hard to keep up with the various names of individuals and groups which at times gives the book a disjointed feel.
However overall this is an incredibly well researched, valuable modern social history.

Gripping thoughtful read, 31 Oct 2008
An eye-opening look at how the globalisation of organised crime effects day-to-day life-whether we like it or not.

The timing of the liberalistion of the international financial markets and the coincidental collapse of communism in central and eastern Europe and the USSR means that the face of crime has changed for ever.

And as the author points out, so long as the profits are so big and demands for illegal products so high, no amount of policing can ever stamp it out. In fact, the more resources poured in to the "War on Crime", the bigger organised crime becomes......

Very readable and jampacked full of interesting facts!, 28 Sep 2008
I bought this book after reading a serialisation in a paper, and found it a really fascinating read. Everything from prostitution to guns to drugs to cyber crime to diamonds to people trafficking is covered in a wide ranging examination of the globalised nature of the black market, and its enormous influence on society and politics.

Not just about the drugs!!, 12 Sep 2008
Ok so, like many before me, I guess I have to establish some credentials before I review.......... I have worked both inside and against (at the same time!) much of the murky world chronicled by Glenny and would consider it a pretty good outsiders account of most aspects. It creates a very good spring board for the inquisitive but will unfortunately be missed by the general masses for any real impact.

However, I have to contradict a previous reviewer (or two) in that drugs is not the main driver/funder for criminal activity these days, nor does Glenny susbscribe to this misdirection. The various major criminal groupings are more than savvy enough to have long established their own intelligence and corporate networks; these devices shrewdly keep them one step ahead of the game and dictate which commodity, because yes dear reader it is big business we are talking about here, is likely to attract the least law-enforcement scrutiny, minimum sentencing if caught and, last but by no means least, the maximum profit in individual countries that they traffick to or through.

Currently, people trafficking and smuggling (there is a distinct difference!) is top of the charts; a "re-usable" commodity, easily dispatched with very low overheads and the bonus of minimal risk through comparatively minimal prosecutions.

Do my "fellow" reviewers therefore consider that we legalise slavery, of primarily women and children with smattering of menfolk, and all that this vile trade and it's sub-trades entail in the modern world quite so glibly as they do the legalisation of drugs from their false, and dare I say naive, deductions?

Scary but true..., 11 Jun 2008
This a frightening but fascinating book, which brings together the keen-eyed journalism Glenny displayed in the 1990s, with a tale of the kind of organised crime that touches us all, whether we know it or not.

Glenny tours the world, and wisely does not try his hand at thriller-writing as he does so. The stories, and their contexts, are fascinating enough to be simply laid out before us. In each case, the most compelling parts are the history and analysis of how that kind of crime took off, in that place and that time. While there are undercurrents that are common throughout, what stands out starkly are the location and era-specific details of the conditions that allow major crime to flourish. I would have liked to have seen something more about how these national and international crime groups link together; however, given the amount of detail at his disposal, perhaps the author is saving this for his next book.

The level of detail is impressive, and the sources authoritative. Glenny has managed to bring in a tremendous amount of information, without leaving the reader feeling swamped and overwhelmed. The book should be compulsory reading for anyone aspiring to senior levels of government. Because what strikes this reader, is how in each case the myopia, stupidity, connivance and outright greed of governments have created the conditions for organised crime to grow and thrive.


Indepth Study, 14 May 2008
Misha Glenny delves deep into organised crime in this study of a post cold-war, globalised world. Indepth and at times utterly fascinating this book covers a wide blanket of criminals from the Balkans to India, from Colombia to Russia and beyond.
However the linkage between each criminal group is not evident and there is not a significant coherant argument concerning globalisation. On one hand he appears to advocate the legalisation of all drugs whilst on the other going into great detail concerning tobacco smuggling and counterfeiting and the negative effects this causes.
The pace is at times frantic and it is sometimes hard to keep up with the various names of individuals and groups which at times gives the book a disjointed feel.
However overall this is an incredibly well researched, valuable modern social history.

An Amazing book of Survival, 28 Aug 2008
Graham Johnson writes this book from the perpective of the man who the book is based on - Stephen French. Having met with Stephen and done hundreds of hours of interviews the book totaly feels like its being written from the man himself. The author writes the story from Stephens perspective to give a closer feeling to the the personal stories of his life as if hes telling them. The book has so many stories to tell of extrmely dangerous conflict situations between rival gangs, feuds with fellow crew members and the author does not hold back. The author says in the first few pages how he really wanted to get the reader a feeling of Stephens perspective. I really felt you got a very strong sense of the man from this book and read it in 2 days. This guy had many wild encounters for decades. Many people would surely be dead or incarcerated if they were in the same situations. Find out how he survived and how Stephen was able to make change his circumstances by turning his back on crime. A facinating read and clearly written book.

Great!, 31 Jul 2008
Excellent book!

Unlike another book i recently read on a similar subject this is a well written book with some great stories of life amongst gangland britain.



Same old self serving story, 04 Jul 2008
Read quite a lot of these style of books and they all seem to have pretty much the same lines,ie us real gangsters,us real hard men and its more like an ego trip thing however this guy is slightly different in that hes actually educated but still lets himself down by making himself out to be the toughest man on the planet and as we all know most of these types only tell the story when they are winners never losers,however history usually tells the true story even great toughs like the late Lenny McLean & Roy Shaw were beaten by fairly average people so on that score the story i felt was more of the same,as for racism certainly never saw any of that maybe there were more white dealers than colours , but all in all if you like the hood element this book is quite interesting

Great read about Liverpool as a city, 20 Apr 2008
Great read very honest and a all the more disturbing because its true. Having been in the Grafton many times I know how real the book is. I read liverpool stories as often as they are published, and this is as entertaining as any I have read recently. The topic is a disturbing one, but a sad endightment of the society we live in to day. The Frenchman is a scary character indeed, but if you live in that world then there are scary people around every corner. This book doesnt glorify anything, its just the way it is. The more real, the more terrifying it becomes. If you like fiction try Liveroppl author Conrad Jones, and his thrillers,Soft Target, Soft Target 2, and three. They are all set in Liverpool, mostly in the city centre and around Anfield, excellent reading by a local author. Fantastic reading!!!

superb read, 01 Apr 2008
I don't know about you but normally when I read a book of this sort involving violence, and organised crime. I tend to find that my eyes roll to the back of my head a lot while thinking why am i reading this catalogue of events, which just serve to show us how hard the subject is; and how he is to be feared etc, etc without showing us any substance or reasoning behind his actions other than to save face. Here though in this 200 odd pages we have the likes of which I have never read before in a true crime novel, and that is reasoning, intelligence of thought, and acceptence of guilt.

We firt meet the man Stephen 'The Devil' French when he talks about growing up in the southend of Liverpool, born into a mixed race family ( I live in the north end Walton). The area he lived in was Toxteth, it's an area that was as underprivelleged then as it is today to say the least, and from this point you get the sense that the subject would have done anything to escape the 'ghetto' as he calls it. He starts out his criminal life as a mugger and house burgler.

He tells us about the Toxteth riots, and it is here he reveals something that shows us that he is not your usual violent brute of a man. He explains that after the riots the police could not come into the area, the recession was well under way which resulted in no money, and no jobs. So where was the money going to come from? Drugs!! it's not just econimics that aid the selling of drugs but also the social enviroment (something I never ever considered). so really we get his thoughts and analysis of the situations he finds himself in at various times. this continues right through the book, which only adds to the enjoyment of it.

A majority of people who have read the book accuse Stephen of being Racist. I'm white and did not find that he was, or is. This is because I understand that for a long time in Liverpool, it was an us and them attitude from both races, and at various times his associations with white people have led to conflict. An example of which is when he is working at the Grafton (imagine the bar out of Star Wars crossed with Fraggle Rock and you have the Grafton). He is running the door of a club at a time when racism was stopping black people from crossing the door as a punter, let alone working there and he has a run in with a predominantly white firm who want him off the job. After the initial hostilities we see that Stephen goes on to tell us that he became friends with the ringleader of the gang, and was genuinnly saddened by his death.

I do have some issues with it though, well a couple of questions more than anything. what did his girlfriend do for him to walk away from her? and did he really say when he got his bail from his missus dad who was in the real thing. 'you to me are everything'? What a pearler, he's a legend for this line if nothing else. wherever you are Stephen it was a good read. Good luck to you!

Gripping thoughtful read, 31 Oct 2008
An eye-opening look at how the globalisation of organised crime effects day-to-day life-whether we like it or not.

The timing of the liberalistion of the international financial markets and the coincidental collapse of communism in central and eastern Europe and the USSR means that the face of crime has changed for ever.

And as the author points out, so long as the profits are so big and demands for illegal products so high, no amount of policing can ever stamp it out. In fact, the more resources poured in to the "War on Crime", the bigger organised crime becomes......

Very readable and jampacked full of interesting facts!, 28 Sep 2008
I bought this book after reading a serialisation in a paper, and found it a really fascinating read. Everything from prostitution to guns to drugs to cyber crime to diamonds to people trafficking is covered in a wide ranging examination of the globalised nature of the black market, and its enormous influence on society and politics.

Not just about the drugs!!, 12 Sep 2008
Ok so, like many before me, I guess I have to establish some credentials before I review.......... I have worked both inside and against (at the same time!) much of the murky world chronicled by Glenny and would consider it a pretty good outsiders account of most aspects. It creates a very good spring board for the inquisitive but will unfortunately be missed by the general masses for any real impact.

However, I have to contradict a previous reviewer (or two) in that drugs is not the main driver/funder for criminal activity these days, nor does Glenny susbscribe to this misdirection. The various major criminal groupings are more than savvy enough to have long established their own intelligence and corporate networks; these devices shrewdly keep them one step ahead of the game and dictate which commodity, because yes dear reader it is big business we are talking about here, is likely to attract the least law-enforcement scrutiny, minimum sentencing if caught and, last but by no means least, the maximum profit in individual countries that they traffick to or through.

Currently, people trafficking and smuggling (there is a distinct difference!) is top of the charts; a "re-usable" commodity, easily dispatched with very low overheads and the bonus of minimal risk through comparatively minimal prosecutions.

Do my "fellow" reviewers therefore consider that we legalise slavery, of primarily women and children with smattering of menfolk, and all that this vile trade and it's sub-trades entail in the modern world quite so glibly as they do the legalisation of drugs from their false, and dare I say naive, deductions?

Scary but true..., 11 Jun 2008
This a frightening but fascinating book, which brings together the keen-eyed journalism Glenny displayed in the 1990s, with a tale of the kind of organised crime that touches us all, whether we know it or not.

Glenny tours the world, and wisely does not try his hand at thriller-writing as he does so. The stories, and their contexts, are fascinating enough to be simply laid out before us. In each case, the most compelling parts are the history and analysis of how that kind of crime took off, in that place and that time. While there are undercurrents that are common throughout, what stands out starkly are the location and era-specific details of the conditions that allow major crime to flourish. I would have liked to have seen something more about how these national and international crime groups link together; however, given the amount of detail at his disposal, perhaps the author is saving this for his next book.

The level of detail is impressive, and the sources authoritative. Glenny has managed to bring in a tremendous amount of information, without leaving the reader feeling swamped and overwhelmed. The book should be compulsory reading for anyone aspiring to senior levels of government. Because what strikes this reader, is how in each case the myopia, stupidity, connivance and outright greed of governments have created the conditions for organised crime to grow and thrive.


Indepth Study, 14 May 2008
Misha Glenny delves deep into organised crime in this study of a post cold-war, globalised world. Indepth and at times utterly fascinating this book covers a wide blanket of criminals from the Balkans to India, from Colombia to Russia and beyond.
However the linkage between each criminal group is not evident and there is not a significant coherant argument concerning globalisation. On one hand he appears to advocate the legalisation of all drugs whilst on the other going into great detail concerning tobacco smuggling and counterfeiting and the negative effects this causes.
The pace is at times frantic and it is sometimes hard to keep up with the various names of individuals and groups which at times gives the book a disjointed feel.
However overall this is an incredibly well researched, valuable modern social history.

An Amazing book of Survival, 28 Aug 2008
Graham Johnson writes this book from the perpective of the man who the book is based on - Stephen French. Having met with Stephen and done hundreds of hours of interviews the book totaly feels like its being written from the man himself. The author writes the story from Stephens perspective to give a closer feeling to the the personal stories of his life as if hes telling them. The book has so many stories to tell of extrmely dangerous conflict situations between rival gangs, feuds with fellow crew members and the author does not hold back. The author says in the first few pages how he really wanted to get the reader a feeling of Stephens perspective. I really felt you got a very strong sense of the man from this book and read it in 2 days. This guy had many wild encounters for decades. Many people would surely be dead or incarcerated if they were in the same situations. Find out how he survived and how Stephen was able to make change his circumstances by turning his back on crime. A facinating read and clearly written book.

Great!, 31 Jul 2008
Excellent book!

Unlike another book i recently read on a similar subject this is a well written book with some great stories of life amongst gangland britain.



Same old self serving story, 04 Jul 2008
Read quite a lot of these style of books and they all seem to have pretty much the same lines,ie us real gangsters,us real hard men and its more like an ego trip thing however this guy is slightly different in that hes actually educated but still lets himself down by making himself out to be the toughest man on the planet and as we all know most of these types only tell the story when they are winners never losers,however history usually tells the true story even great toughs like the late Lenny McLean & Roy Shaw were beaten by fairly average people so on that score the story i felt was more of the same,as for racism certainly never saw any of that maybe there were more white dealers than colours , but all in all if you like the hood element this book is quite interesting

Great read about Liverpool as a city, 20 Apr 2008
Great read very honest and a all the more disturbing because its true. Having been in the Grafton many times I know how real the book is. I read liverpool stories as often as they are published, and this is as entertaining as any I have read recently. The topic is a disturbing one, but a sad endightment of the society we live in to day. The Frenchman is a scary character indeed, but if you live in that world then there are scary people around every corner. This book doesnt glorify anything, its just the way it is. The more real, the more terrifying it becomes. If you like fiction try Liveroppl author Conrad Jones, and his thrillers,Soft Target, Soft Target 2, and three. They are all set in Liverpool, mostly in the city centre and around Anfield, excellent reading by a local author. Fantastic reading!!!

superb read, 01 Apr 2008
I don't know about you but normally when I read a book of this sort involving violence, and organised crime. I tend to find that my eyes roll to the back of my head a lot while thinking why am i reading this catalogue of events, which just serve to show us how hard the subject is; and how he is to be feared etc, etc without showing us any substance or reasoning behind his actions other than to save face. Here though in this 200 odd pages we have the likes of which I have never read before in a true crime novel, and that is reasoning, intelligence of thought, and acceptence of guilt.

We firt meet the man Stephen 'The Devil' French when he talks about growing up in the southend of Liverpool, born into a mixed race family ( I live in the north end Walton). The area he lived in was Toxteth, it's an area that was as underprivelleged then as it is today to say the least, and from this point you get the sense that the subject would have done anything to escape the 'ghetto' as he calls it. He starts out his criminal life as a mugger and house burgler.

He tells us about the Toxteth riots, and it is here he reveals something that shows us that he is not your usual violent brute of a man. He explains that after the riots the police could not come into the area, the recession was well under way which resulted in no money, and no jobs. So where was the money going to come from? Drugs!! it's not just econimics that aid the selling of drugs but also the social enviroment (something I never ever considered). so really we get his thoughts and analysis of the situations he finds himself in at various times. this continues right through the book, which only adds to the enjoyment of it.

A majority of people who have read the book accuse Stephen of being Racist. I'm white and did not find that he was, or is. This is because I understand that for a long time in Liverpool, it was an us and them attitude from both races, and at various times his associations with white people have led to conflict. An example of which is when he is working at the Grafton (imagine the bar out of Star Wars crossed with Fraggle Rock and you have the Grafton). He is running the door of a club at a time when racism was stopping black people from crossing the door as a punter, let alone working there and he has a run in with a predominantly white firm who want him off the job. After the initial hostilities we see that Stephen goes on to tell us that he became friends with the ringleader of the gang, and was genuinnly saddened by his death.

I do have some issues with it though, well a couple of questions more than anything. what did his girlfriend do for him to walk away from her? and did he really say when he got his bail from his missus dad who was in the real thing. 'you to me are everything'? What a pearler, he's a legend for this line if nothing else. wherever you are Stephen it was a good read. Good luck to you!

pead off, 27 Sep 2008
this is not an autobiography,its a coppers account and i was bord stiff afer a few pages...an autobiography with this guy would be a better idea in my opinion....awfull read

cocky, 29 Aug 2008
Highly recomended book if you like this sort of read. Everyone I have passed it on to loved it and could not put it down.

A compelling, must-read., 07 Sep 2006
Like I've said, a comeplling read about a fascinating character. I'd never even heard of the man before I read some excerpts form this book and I rushed out to find it right away. If you're into this type of book you'll love it, but I'd advise anyone to read it. Whether you agree with his chosen profession or not, you have to bow to the criminal genius that is/was Curtis Warren and this well written tale illustrates just how good at his 'job' Warren was, until he slipped up, that is! But I won't ruin it for you. Just buy this book, simple as. It's a must have, I can't recommend it highly enough. Hopefully, when Mr.Warren gets out of prison in a few years he might bless us with his own version of his astonishing life-story, but until then this will set the scene for you, about the man known as the 'Cocky Watchman', possibly the biggest drug dealer Europe has ever seen. Buy it. Now.

very good read, 23 Aug 2005
top book

pass this book at your peril, 20 Nov 2004
outstanding account of a underworld character
shame the man himself declined to comment,
wonder where all the millions are that they never found,bet hes laughing his cods off

Gripping thoughtful read, 31 Oct 2008
An eye-opening look at how the globalisation of organised crime effects day-to-day life-whether we like it or not.

The timing of the liberalistion of the international financial markets and the coincidental collapse of communism in central and eastern Europe and the USSR means that the face of crime has changed for ever.

And as the author points out, so long as the profits are so big and demands for illegal products so high, no amount of policing can ever stamp it out. In fact, the more resources poured in to the "War on Crime", the bigger organised crime becomes......

Very readable and jampacked full of interesting facts!, 28 Sep 2008
I bought this book after reading a serialisation in a paper, and found it a really fascinating read. Everything from prostitution to guns to drugs to cyber crime to diamonds to people trafficking is covered in a wide ranging examination of the globalised nature of the black market, and its enormous influence on society and politics.

Not just about the drugs!!, 12 Sep 2008
Ok so, like many before me, I guess I have to establish some credentials before I review.......... I have worked both inside and against (at the same time!) much of the murky world chronicled by Glenny and would consider it a pretty good outsiders account of most aspects. It creates a very good spring board for the inquisitive but will unfortunately be missed by the general masses for any real impact.

However, I have to contradict a previous reviewer (or two) in that drugs is not the main driver/funder for criminal activity these days, nor does Glenny susbscribe to this misdirection. The various major criminal groupings are more than savvy enough to have long established their own intelligence and corporate networks; these devices shrewdly keep them one step ahead of the game and dictate which commodity, because yes dear reader it is big business we are talking about here, is likely to attract the least law-enforcement scrutiny, minimum sentencing if caught and, last but by no means least, the maximum profit in individual countries that they traffick to or through.

Currently, people trafficking and smuggling (there is a distinct difference!) is top of the charts; a "re-usable" commodity, easily dispatched with very low overheads and the bonus of minimal risk through comparatively minimal prosecutions.

Do my "fellow" reviewers therefore consider that we legalise slavery, of primarily women and children with smattering of menfolk, and all that this vile trade and it's sub-trades entail in the modern world quite so glibly as they do the legalisation of drugs from their false, and dare I say naive, deductions?

Scary but true..., 11 Jun 2008
This a frightening but fascinating book, which brings together the keen-eyed journalism Glenny displayed in the 1990s, with a tale of the kind of organised crime that touches us all, whether we know it or not.

Glenny tours the world, and wisely does not try his hand at thriller-writing as he does so. The stories, and their contexts, are fascinating enough to be simply laid out before us. In each case, the most compelling parts are the history and analysis of how that kind of crime took off, in that place and that time. While there are undercurrents that are common throughout, what stands out starkly are the location and era-specific details of the conditions that allow major crime to flourish. I would have liked to have seen something more about how these national and international crime groups link together; however, given the amount of detail at his disposal, perhaps the author is saving this for his next book.

The level of detail is impressive, and the sources authoritative. Glenny has managed to bring in a tremendous amount of information, without leaving the reader feeling swamped and overwhelmed. The book should be compulsory reading for anyone aspiring to senior levels of government. Because what strikes this reader, is how in each case the myopia, stupidity, connivance and outright greed of governments have created the conditions for organised crime to grow and thrive.


Indepth Study, 14 May 2008
Misha Glenny delves deep into organised crime in this study of a post cold-war, globalised world. Indepth and at times utterly fascinating this book covers a wide blanket of criminals from the Balkans to India, from Colombia to Russia and beyond.
However the linkage between each criminal group is not evident and there is not a significant coherant argument concerning globalisation. On one hand he appears to advocate the legalisation of all drugs whilst on the other going into great detail concerning tobacco smuggling and counterfeiting and the negative effects this causes.
The pace is at times frantic and it is sometimes hard to keep up with the various names of individuals and groups which at times gives the book a disjointed feel.
However overall this is an incredibly well researched, valuable modern social history.

An Amazing book of Survival, 28 Aug 2008
Graham Johnson writes this book from the perpective of the man who the book is based on - Stephen French. Having met with Stephen and done hundreds of hours of interviews the book totaly feels like its being written from the man himself. The author writes the story from Stephens perspective to give a closer feeling to the the personal stories of his life as if hes telling them. The book has so many stories to tell of extrmely dangerous conflict situations between rival gangs, feuds with fellow crew members and the author does not hold back. The author says in the first few pages how he really wanted to get the reader a feeling of Stephens perspective. I really felt you got a very strong sense of the man from this book and read it in 2 days. This guy had many wild encounters for decades. Many people would surely be dead or incarcerated if they were in the same situations. Find out how he survived and how Stephen was able to make change his circumstances by turning his back on crime. A facinating read and clearly written book.

Great!, 31 Jul 2008
Excellent book!

Unlike another book i recently read on a similar subject this is a well written book with some great stories of life amongst gangland britain.



Same old self serving story, 04 Jul 2008
Read quite a lot of these style of books and they all seem to have pretty much the same lines,ie us real gangsters,us real hard men and its more like an ego trip thing however this guy is slightly different in that hes actually educated but still lets himself down by making himself out to be the toughest man on the planet and as we all know most of these types only tell the story when they are winners never losers,however history usually tells the true story even great toughs like the late Lenny McLean & Roy Shaw were beaten by fairly average people so on that score the story i felt was more of the same,as for racism certainly never saw any of that maybe there were more white dealers than colours , but all in all if you like the hood element this book is quite interesting

Great read about Liverpool as a city, 20 Apr 2008
Great read very honest and a all the more disturbing because its true. Having been in the Grafton many times I know how real the book is. I read liverpool stories as often as they are published, and this is as entertaining as any I have read recently. The topic is a disturbing one, but a sad endightment of the society we live in to day. The Frenchman is a scary character indeed, but if you live in that world then there are scary people around every corner. This book doesnt glorify anything, its just the way it is. The more real, the more terrifying it becomes. If you like fiction try Liveroppl author Conrad Jones, and his thrillers,Soft Target, Soft Target 2, and three. They are all set in Liverpool, mostly in the city centre and around Anfield, excellent reading by a local author. Fantastic reading!!!

superb read, 01 Apr 2008
I don't know about you but normally when I read a book of this sort involving violence, and organised crime. I tend to find that my eyes roll to the back of my head a lot while thinking why am i reading this catalogue of events, which just serve to show us how hard the subject is; and how he is to be feared etc, etc without showing us any substance or reasoning behind his actions other than to save face. Here though in this 200 odd pages we have the likes of which I have never read before in a true crime novel, and that is reasoning, intelligence of thought, and acceptence of guilt.

We firt meet the man Stephen 'The Devil' French when he talks about growing up in the southend of Liverpool, born into a mixed race family ( I live in the north end Walton). The area he lived in was Toxteth, it's an area that was as underprivelleged then as it is today to say the least, and from this point you get the sense that the subject would have done anything to escape the 'ghetto' as he calls it. He starts out his criminal life as a mugger and house burgler.

He tells us about the Toxteth riots, and it is here he reveals something that shows us that he is not your usual violent brute of a man. He explains that after the riots the police could not come into the area, the recession was well under way which resulted in no money, and no jobs. So where was the money going to come from? Drugs!! it's not just econimics that aid the selling of drugs but also the social enviroment (something I never ever considered). so really we get his thoughts and analysis of the situations he finds himself in at various times. this continues right through the book, which only adds to the enjoyment of it.

A majority of people who have read the book accuse Stephen of being Racist. I'm white and did not find that he was, or is. This is because I understand that for a long time in Liverpool, it was an us and them attitude from both races, and at various times his associations with white people have led to conflict. An example of which is when he is working at the Grafton (imagine the bar out of Star Wars crossed with Fraggle Rock and you have the Grafton). He is running the door of a club at a time when racism was stopping black people from crossing the door as a punter, let alone working there and he has a run in with a predominantly white firm who want him off the job. After the initial hostilities we see that Stephen goes on to tell us that he became friends with the ringleader of the gang, and was genuinnly saddened by his death.

I do have some issues with it though, well a couple of questions more than anything. what did his girlfriend do for him to walk away from her? and did he really say when he got his bail from his missus dad who was in the real thing. 'you to me are everything'? What a pearler, he's a legend for this line if nothing else. wherever you are Stephen it was a good read. Good luck to you!

pead off, 27 Sep 2008
this is not an autobiography,its a coppers account and i was bord stiff afer a few pages...an autobiography with this guy would be a better idea in my opinion....awfull read

cocky, 29 Aug 2008
Highly recomended book if you like this sort of read. Everyone I have passed it on to loved it and could not put it down.

A compelling, must-read., 07 Sep 2006
Like I've said, a comeplling read about a fascinating character. I'd never even heard of the man before I read some excerpts form this book and I rushed out to find it right away. If you're into this type of book you'll love it, but I'd advise anyone to read it. Whether you agree with his chosen profession or not, you have to bow to the criminal genius that is/was Curtis Warren and this well written tale illustrates just how good at his 'job' Warren was, until he slipped up, that is! But I won't ruin it for you. Just buy this book, simple as. It's a must have, I can't recommend it highly enough. Hopefully, when Mr.Warren gets out of prison in a few years he might bless us with his own version of his astonishing life-story, but until then this will set the scene for you, about the man known as the 'Cocky Watchman', possibly the biggest drug dealer Europe has ever seen. Buy it. Now.

very good read, 23 Aug 2005
top book

pass this book at your peril, 20 Nov 2004
outstanding account of a underworld character
shame the man himself declined to comment,
wonder where all the millions are that they never found,bet hes laughing his cods off

Don't bother, 05 Jun 2008
Really badly written - The authors attempts to "talk street" are just silly. Full of clichés and unnecessary glorification. His sycophantic approach to the murderer Ken Noye would be almost laughable if the subject matter was not so serious.
There are much better crime books out there.

Gripping thoughtful read, 31 Oct 2008
An eye-opening look at how the globalisation of organised crime effects day-to-day life-whether we like it or not.

The timing of the liberalistion of the international financial markets and the coincidental collapse of communism in central and eastern Europe and the USSR means that the face of crime has changed for ever.

And as the author points out, so long as the profits are so big and demands for illegal products so high, no amount of policing can ever stamp it out. In fact, the more resources poured in to the "War on Crime", the bigger organised crime becomes......

Very readable and jampacked full of interesting facts!, 28 Sep 2008
I bought this book after reading a serialisation in a paper, and found it a really fascinating read. Everything from prostitution to guns to drugs to cyber crime to diamonds to people trafficking is covered in a wide ranging examination of the globalised nature of the black market, and its enormous influence on society and politics.

Not just about the drugs!!, 12 Sep 2008
Ok so, like many before me, I guess I have to establish some credentials before I review.......... I have worked both inside and against (at the same time!) much of the murky world chronicled by Glenny and would consider it a pretty good outsiders account of most aspects. It creates a very good spring board for the inquisitive but will unfortunately be missed by the general masses for any real impact.

However, I have to contradict a previous reviewer (or two) in that drugs is not the main driver/funder for criminal activity these days, nor does Glenny susbscribe to this misdirection. The various major criminal groupings are more than savvy enough to have long established their own intelligence and corporate networks; these devices shrewdly keep them one step ahead of the game and dictate which commodity, because yes dear reader it is big business we are talking about here, is likely to attract the least law-enforcement scrutiny, minimum sentencing if caught and, last but by no means least, the maximum profit in individual countries that they traffick to or through.

Currently, people trafficking and smuggling (there is a distinct difference!) is top of the charts; a "re-usable" commodity, easily dispatched with very low overheads and the bonus of minimal risk through comparatively minimal prosecutions.

Do my "fellow" reviewers therefore consider that we legalise slavery, of primarily women and children with smattering of menfolk, and all that this vile trade and it's sub-trades entail in the modern world quite so glibly as they do the legalisation of drugs from their false, and dare I say naive, deductions?

Scary but true..., 11 Jun 2008
This a frightening but fascinating book, which brings together the keen-eyed journalism Glenny displayed in the 1990s, with a tale of the kind of organised crime that touches us all, whether we know it or not.

Glenny tours the world, and wisely does not try his hand at thriller-writing as he does so. The stories, and their contexts, are fascinating enough to be simply laid out before us. In each case, the most compelling parts are the history and analysis of how that kind of crime took off, in that place and that time. While there are undercurrents that are common throughout, what stands out starkly are the location and era-specific details of the conditions that allow major crime to flourish. I would have liked to have seen something more about how these national and international crime groups link together; however, given the amount of detail at his disposal, perhaps the author is saving this for his next book.

The level of detail is impressive, and the sources authoritative. Glenny has managed to bring in a tremendous amount of information, without leaving the reader feeling swamped and overwhelmed. The book should be compulsory reading for anyone aspiring to senior levels of government. Because what strikes this reader, is how in each case the myopia, stupidity, connivance and outright greed of governments have created the conditions for organised crime to grow and thrive.


Indepth Study, 14 May 2008
Misha Glenny delves deep into organised crime in this study of a post cold-war, globalised world. Indepth and at times utterly fascinating this book covers a wide blanket of criminals from the Balkans to India, from Colombia to Russia and beyond.
However the linkage between each criminal group is not evident and there is not a significant coherant argument concerning globalisation. On one hand he appears to advocate the legalisation of all drugs whilst on the other going into great detail concerning tobacco smuggling and counterfeiting and the negative effects this causes.
The pace is at times frantic and it is sometimes hard to keep up with the various names of individuals and groups which at times gives the book a disjointed feel.
However overall this is an incredibly well researched, valuable modern social history.

An Amazing book of Survival, 28 Aug 2008
Graham Johnson writes this book from the perpective of the man who the book is based on - Stephen French. Having met with Stephen and done hundreds of hours of interviews the book totaly feels like its being written from the man himself. The author writes the story from Stephens perspective to give a closer feeling to the the personal stories of his life as if hes telling them. The book has so many stories to tell of extrmely dangerous conflict situations between rival gangs, feuds with fellow crew members and the author does not hold back. The author says in the first few pages how he really wanted to get the reader a feeling of Stephens perspective. I really felt you got a very strong sense of the man from this book and read it in 2 days. This guy had many wild encounters for decades. Many people would surely be dead or incarcerated if they were in the same situations. Find out how he survived and how Stephen was able to make change his circumstances by turning his back on crime. A facinating read and clearly written book.

Great!, 31 Jul 2008
Excellent book!

Unlike another book i recently read on a similar subject this is a well written book with some great stories of life amongst gangland britain.



Same old self serving story, 04 Jul 2008
Read quite a lot of these style of books and they all seem to have pretty much the same lines,ie us real gangsters,us real hard men and its more like an ego trip thing however this guy is slightly different in that hes actually educated but still lets himself down by making himself out to be the toughest man on the planet and as we all know most of these types only tell the story when they are winners never losers,however history usually tells the true story even great toughs like the late Lenny McLean & Roy Shaw were beaten by fairly average people so on that score the story i felt was more of the same,as for racism certainly never saw any of that maybe there were more white dealers than colours , but all in all if you like the hood element this book is quite interesting

Great read about Liverpool as a city, 20 Apr 2008
Great read very honest and a all the more disturbing because its true. Having been in the Grafton many times I know how real the book is. I read liverpool stories as often as they are published, and this is as entertaining as any I have read recently. The topic is a disturbing one, but a sad endightment of the society we live in to day. The Frenchman is a scary character indeed, but if you live in that world then there are scary people around every corner. This book doesnt glorify anything, its just the way it is. The more real, the more terrifying it becomes. If you like fiction try Liveroppl author Conrad Jones, and his thrillers,Soft Target, Soft Target 2, and three. They are all set in Liverpool, mostly in the city centre and around Anfield, excellent reading by a local author. Fantastic reading!!!

superb read, 01 Apr 2008
I don't know about you but normally when I read a book of this sort involving violence, and organised crime. I tend to find that my eyes roll to the back of my head a lot while thinking why am i reading this catalogue of events, which just serve to show us how hard the subject is; and how he is to be feared etc, etc without showing us any substance or reasoning behind his actions other than to save face. Here though in this 200 odd pages we have the likes of which I have never read before in a true crime novel, and that is reasoning, intelligence of thought, and acceptence of guilt.

We firt meet the man Stephen 'The Devil' French when he talks about growing up in the southend of Liverpool, born into a mixed race family ( I live in the north end Walton). The area he lived in was Toxteth, it's an area that was as underprivelleged then as it is today to say the least, and from this point you get the sense that the subject would have done anything to escape the 'ghetto' as he calls it. He starts out his criminal life as a mugger and house burgler.

He tells us about the Toxteth riots, and it is here he reveals something that shows us that he is not your usual violent brute of a man. He explains that after the riots the police could not come into the area, the recession was well under way which resulted in no money, and no jobs. So where was the money going to come from? Drugs!! it's not just econimics that aid the selling of drugs but also the social enviroment (something I never ever considered). so really we get his thoughts and analysis of the situations he finds himself in at various times. this continues right through the book, which only adds to the enjoyment of it.

A majority of people who have read the book accuse Stephen of being Racist. I'm white and did not find that he was, or is. This is because I understand that for a long time in Liverpool, it was an us and them attitude from both races, and at various times his associations with white people have led to conflict. An example of which is when he is working at the Grafton (imagine the bar out of Star Wars crossed with Fraggle Rock and you have the Grafton). He is running the door of a club at a time when racism was stopping black people from crossing the door as a punter, let alone working there and he has a run in with a predominantly white firm who want him off the job. After the initial hostilities we see that Stephen goes on to tell us that he became friends with the ringleader of the gang, and was genuinnly saddened by his death.

I do have some issues with it though, well a couple of questions more than anything. what did his girlfriend do for him to walk away from her? and did he really say when he got his bail from his missus dad who was in the real thing. 'you to me are everything'? What a pearler, he's a legend for this line if nothing else. wherever you are Stephen it was a good read. Good luck to you!

pead off, 27 Sep 2008
this is not an autobiography,its a coppers account and i was bord stiff afer a few pages...an autobiography with this guy would be a better idea in my opinion....awfull read

cocky, 29 Aug 2008
Highly recomended book if you like this sort of read. Everyone I have passed it on to loved it and could not put it down.

A compelling, must-read., 07 Sep 2006
Like I've said, a comeplling read about a fascinating character. I'd never even heard of the man before I read some excerpts form this book and I rushed out to find it right away. If you're into this type of book you'll love it, but I'd advise anyone to read it. Whether you agree with his chosen profession or not, you have to bow to the criminal genius that is/was Curtis Warren and this well written tale illustrates just how good at his 'job' Warren was, until he slipped up, that is! But I won't ruin it for you. Just buy this book, simple as. It's a must have, I can't recommend it highly enough. Hopefully, when Mr.Warren gets out of prison in a few years he might bless us with his own version of his astonishing life-story, but until then this will set the scene for you, about the man known as the 'Cocky Watchman', possibly the biggest drug dealer Europe has ever seen. Buy it. Now.

very good read, 23 Aug 2005
top book

pass this book at your peril, 20 Nov 2004
outstanding account of a underworld character
shame the man himself declined to comment,
wonder where all the millions are that they never found,bet hes laughing his cods off

Don't bother, 05 Jun 2008
Really badly written - The authors attempts to "talk street" are just silly. Full of clichés and unnecessary glorification. His sycophantic approach to the murderer Ken Noye would be almost laughable if the subject matter was not so serious.
There are much better crime books out there.


Great read, 12 May 2008
This is a really interesting book on the crime scene based on true events from a "supergrass". A great author who tells the story of drugs and violence in a way that I could not put the book down. Not only a great read but an education in some of the biggest crimelords / drug dealers in the UK's past. Get it!

Hypocritical Claptrap., 14 Jun 2007
This dodgy Scouse geezer wants us to believe he turned his back on crime because of the drugs trade which apparently was causing a lot more hurt to people than his own method of dealing with rivals, grasses, enemies etc. It's ok for him to mete out extreme ultra violence to all and sundry and to make money off the back of it, but drugs are really bad. What a hypocrite. He even admits to smoking cannabis himself.

A Gripping Read, 05 Jan 2007
One of the best true crime books ive read, so much so i felt i had to review it. Undoubtedly Paul Grimes was a proper villain back in the day - his exploits with the 'Hole in the Wall gang' tell all. He turned his back on crime and became what every criminal says they despise - a grass or in Pauls case - a supergrass because of his stance against the drugs trade. Fair play, he had it all and lost it all - and his rise and fall is well documented in this book. Its an honest reflection of his life and its all true unlike a lot of other so called villains and hardmen who spout absolute boll***s throughout their pages. And with regard to the review that says about him giving curtis warren a good slap and him being young - thats real life, you want to be a standover man and live in that world be prepared for the consequences. I recommend bernard o'mahoneys wannabe in my gang for another good read on the pitfalls and realities of the drug trade, maybe then you can appreciate that what grimes did was perhaps save a few lives -if only for a short while.

Great read, 30 Mar 2005
Paul Grimes's story of how he turned suoergrass after the death of his son from drugs is a cracking read. He charts his rise in the Liverpool underworld and then his fall, when he does a deal with Customs. Next to From Gangland to Promised Land and Essex Boys it's the best book I've read this year.

What a book!, 12 Feb 2005
A great read from start to finish. At the end of it you kind of feel a bit sorry for him in a strange way. No one likes a grass do they but you can see it from his side of the story. He was just trying to do what he saw as right. Although through his criminal life he was a bully and a theif and beat many people as they says what goes around comes around. He got what was coming to him - NOTHING. He could of been sitting on millions now he has nothing, I would not like to be in his shoes today. What they all got up to was amazing,but all of them have paid either with their lives or with prison.

Gripping thoughtful read, 31 Oct 2008
An eye-opening look at how the globalisation of organised crime effects day-to-day life-whether we like it or not.

The timing of the liberalistion of the international financial markets and the coincidental collapse of communism in central and eastern Europe and the USSR means that the face of crime has changed for ever.

And as the author points out, so long as the profits are so big and demands for illegal products so high, no amount of policing can ever stamp it out. In fact, the more resources poured in to the "War on Crime", the bigger organised crime becomes......

Very readable and jampacked full of interesting facts!, 28 Sep 2008
I bought this book after reading a serialisation in a paper, and found it a really fascinating read. Everything from prostitution to guns to drugs to cyber crime to diamonds to people trafficking is covered in a wide ranging examination of the globalised nature of the black market, and its enormous influence on society and politics.

Not just about the drugs!!, 12 Sep 2008
Ok so, like many before me, I guess I have to establish some credentials before I review.......... I have worked both inside and against (at the same time!) much of the murky world chronicled by Glenny and would consider it a pretty good outsiders account of most aspects. It creates a very good spring board for the inquisitive but will unfortunately be missed by the general masses for any real impact.

However, I have to contradict a previous reviewer (or two) in that drugs is not the main driver/funder for criminal activity these days, nor does Glenny susbscribe to this misdirection. The various major criminal groupings are more than savvy enough to have long established their own intelligence and corporate networks; these devices shrewdly keep them one step ahead of the game and dictate which commodity, because yes dear reader it is big business we are talking about here, is likely to attract the least law-enforcement scrutiny, minimum sentencing if caught and, last but by no means least, the maximum profit in individual countries that they traffick to or through.

Currently, people trafficking and smuggling (there is a distinct difference!) is top of the charts; a "re-usable" commodity, easily dispatched with very low overheads and the bonus of minimal risk through comparatively minimal prosecutions.

Do my "fellow" reviewers therefore consider that we legalise slavery, of primarily women and children with smattering of menfolk, and all that this vile trade and it's sub-trades entail in the modern world quite so glibly as they do the legalisation of drugs from their false, and dare I say naive, deductions?

Scary but true..., 11 Jun 2008
This a frightening but fascinating book, which brings together the keen-eyed journalism Glenny displayed in the 1990s, with a tale of the kind of organised crime that touches us all, whether we know it or not.

Glenny tours the world, and wisely does not try his hand at thriller-writing as he does so. The stories, and their contexts, are fascinating enough to be simply laid out before us. In each case, the most compelling parts are the history and analysis of how that kind of crime took off, in that place and that time. While there are undercurrents that are common throughout, what stands out starkly are the location and era-specific details of the conditions that allow major crime to flourish. I would have liked to have seen something more about how these national and international crime groups link together; however, given the amount of detail at his disposal, perhaps the author is saving this for his next book.

The level of detail is impressive, and the sources authoritative. Glenny has managed to bring in a tremendous amount of information, without leaving the reader feeling swamped and overwhelmed. The book should be compulsory reading for anyone aspiring to senior levels of government. Because what strikes this reader, is how in each case the myopia, stupidity, connivance and outright greed of governments have created the conditions for organised crime to grow and thrive.


Indepth Study, 14 May 2008
Misha Glenny delves deep into organised crime in this study of a post cold-war, globalised world. Indepth and at times utterly fascinating this book covers a wide blanket of criminals from the Balkans to India, from Colombia to Russia and beyond.
However the linkage between each criminal group is not evident and there is not a significant coherant argument concerning globalisation. On one hand he appears to advocate the legalisation of all drugs whilst on the other going into great detail concerning tobacco smuggling and counterfeiting and the negative effects this causes.
The pace is at times frantic and it is sometimes hard to keep up with the various names of individuals and groups which at times gives the book a disjointed feel.
However overall this is an incredibly well researched, valuable modern social history.

An Amazing book of Survival, 28 Aug 2008
Graham Johnson writes this book from the perpective of the man who the book is based on - Stephen French. Having met with Stephen and done hundreds of hours of interviews the book totaly feels like its being written from the man himself. The author writes the story from Stephens perspective to give a closer feeling to the the personal stories of his life as if hes telling them. The book has so many stories to tell of extrmely dangerous conflict situations between rival gangs, feuds with fellow crew members and the author does not hold back. The author says in the first few pages how he really wanted to get the reader a feeling of Stephens perspective. I really felt you got a very strong sense of the man from this book and read it in 2 days. This guy had many wild encounters for decades. Many people would surely be dead or incarcerated if they were in the same situations. Find out how he survived and how Stephen was able to make change his circumstances by turning his back on crime. A facinating read and clearly written book.

Great!, 31 Jul 2008
Excellent book!

Unlike another book i recently read on a similar subject this is a well written book with some great stories of life amongst gangland britain.



Same old self serving story, 04 Jul 2008
Read quite a lot of these style of books and they all seem to have pretty much the same lines,ie us real gangsters,us real hard men and its more like an ego trip thing however this guy is slightly different in that hes actually educated but still lets himself down by making himself out to be the toughest man on the planet and as we all know most of these types only tell the story when they are winners never losers,however history usually tells the true story even great toughs like the late Lenny McLean & Roy Shaw were beaten by fairly average people so on that score the story i felt was more of the same,as for racism certainly never saw any of that maybe there were more white dealers than colours , but all in all if you like the hood element this book is quite interesting

Great read about Liverpool as a city, 20 Apr 2008
Great read very honest and a all the more disturbing because its true. Having been in the Grafton many times I know how real the book is. I read liverpool stories as often as they are published, and this is as entertaining as any I have read recently. The topic is a disturbing one, but a sad endightment of the society we live in to day. The Frenchman is a scary character indeed, but if you live in that world then there are scary people around every corner. This book doesnt glorify anything, its just the way it is. The more real, the more terrifying it becomes. If you like fiction try Liveroppl author Conrad Jones, and his thrillers,Soft Target, Soft Target 2, and three. They are all set in Liverpool, mostly in the city centre and around Anfield, excellent reading by a local author. Fantastic reading!!!

superb read, 01 Apr 2008
I don't know about you but normally when I read a book of this sort involving violence, and organised crime. I tend to find that my eyes roll to the back of my head a lot while thinking why am i reading this catalogue of events, which just serve to show us how hard the subject is; and how he is to be feared etc, etc without showing us any substance or reasoning behind his actions other than to save face. Here though in this 200 odd pages we have the likes of which I have never read before in a true crime novel, and that is reasoning, intelligence of thought, and acceptence of guilt.

We firt meet the man Stephen 'The Devil' French when he talks about growing up in the southend of Liverpool, born into a mixed race family ( I live in the north end Walton). The area he lived in was Toxteth, it's an area that was as underprivelleged then as it is today to say the least, and from this point you get the sense that the subject would have done anything to escape the 'ghetto' as he calls it. He starts out his criminal life as a mugger and house burgler.

He tells us about the Toxteth riots, and it is here he reveals something that shows us that he is not your usual violent brute of a man. He explains that after the riots the police could not come into the area, the recession was well under way which resulted in no money, and no jobs. So where was the money going to come from? Drugs!! it's not just econimics that aid the selling of drugs but also the social enviroment (something I never ever considered). so really we get his thoughts and analysis of the situations he finds himself in at various times. this continues right through the book, which only adds to the enjoyment of it.

A majority of people who have read the book accuse Stephen of being Racist. I'm white and did not find that he was, or is. This is because I understand that for a long time in Liverpool, it was an us and them attitude from both races, and at various times his associations with white people have led to conflict. An example of which is when he is working at the Grafton (imagine the bar out of Star Wars crossed with Fraggle Rock and you have the Grafton). He is running the door of a club at a time when racism was stopping black people from crossing the door as a punter, let alone working there and he has a run in with a predominantly white firm who want him off the job. After the initial hostilities we see that Stephen goes on to tell us that he became friends with the ringleader of the gang, and was genuinnly saddened by his death.

I do have some issues with it though, well a couple of questions more than anything. what did his girlfriend do for him to walk away from her? and did he really say when he got his bail from his missus dad who was in the real thing. 'you to me are everything'? What a pearler, he's a legend for this line if nothing else. wherever you are Stephen it was a good read. Good luck to you!

pead off, 27 Sep 2008
this is not an autobiography,its a coppers account and i was bord stiff afer a few pages...an autobiography with this guy would be a better idea in my opinion....awfull read

cocky, 29 Aug 2008
Highly recomended book if you like this sort of read. Everyone I have passed it on to loved it and could not put it down.

A compelling, must-read., 07 Sep 2006
Like I've said, a comeplling read about a fascinating character. I'd never even heard of the man before I read some excerpts form this book and I rushed out to find it right away. If you're into this type of book you'll love it, but I'd advise anyone to read it. Whether you agree with his chosen profession or not, you have to bow to the criminal genius that is/was Curtis Warren and this well written tale illustrates just how good at his 'job' Warren was, until he slipped up, that is! But I won't ruin it for you. Just buy this book, simple as. It's a must have, I can't recommend it highly enough. Hopefully, when Mr.Warren gets out of prison in a few years he might bless us with his own version of his astonishing life-story, but until then this will set the scene for you, about the man known as the 'Cocky Watchman', possibly the biggest drug dealer Europe has ever seen. Buy it. Now.

very good read, 23 Aug 2005
top book

pass this book at your peril, 20 Nov 2004
outstanding account of a underworld character
shame the man himself declined to comment,
wonder where all the millions are that they never found,bet hes laughing his cods off

Don't bother, 05 Jun 2008
Really badly written - The authors attempts to "talk street" are just silly. Full of clichés and unnecessary glorification. His sycophantic approach to the murderer Ken Noye would be almost laughable if the subject matter was not so serious.
There are much better crime books out there.


Great read, 12 May 2008
This is a really interesting book on the crime scene based on true events from a "supergrass". A great author who tells the story of drugs and violence in a way that I could not put the book down. Not only a great read but an education in some of the biggest crimelords / drug dealers in the UK's past. Get it!

Hypocritical Claptrap., 14 Jun 2007
This dodgy Scouse geezer wants us to believe he turned his back on crime because of the drugs trade which apparently was causing a lot more hurt to people than his own method of dealing with rivals, grasses, enemies etc. It's ok for him to mete out extreme ultra violence to all and sundry and to make money off the back of it, but drugs are really bad. What a hypocrite. He even admits to smoking cannabis himself.

A Gripping Read, 05 Jan 2007
One of the best true crime books ive read, so much so i felt i had to review it. Undoubtedly Paul Grimes was a proper villain back in the day - his exploits with the 'Hole in the Wall gang' tell all. He turned his back on crime and became what every criminal says they despise - a grass or in Pauls case - a supergrass because of his stance against the drugs trade. Fair play, he had it all and lost it all - and his rise and fall is well documented in this book. Its an honest reflection of his life and its all true unlike a lot of other so called villains and hardmen who spout absolute boll***s throughout their pages. And with regard to the review that says about him giving curtis warren a good slap and him being young - thats real life, you want to be a standover man and live in that world be prepared for the consequences. I recommend bernard o'mahoneys wannabe in my gang for another good read on the pitfalls and realities of the drug trade, maybe then you can appreciate that what grimes did was perhaps save a few lives -if only for a short while.

Great read, 30 Mar 2005
Paul Grimes's story of how he turned suoergrass after the death of his son from drugs is a cracking read. He charts his rise in the Liverpool underworld and then his fall, when he does a deal with Customs. Next to From Gangland to Promised Land and Essex Boys it's the best book I've read this year.

What a book!, 12 Feb 2005
A great read from start to finish. At the end of it you kind of feel a bit sorry for him in a strange way. No one likes a grass do they but you can see it from his side of the story. He was just trying to do what he saw as right. Although through his criminal life he was a bully and a theif and beat many people as they says what goes around comes around. He got what was coming to him - NOTHING. He could of been sitting on millions now he has nothing, I would not like to be in his shoes today. What they all got up to was amazing,but all of them have paid either with their lives or with prison.

LEW YATES AND BERNARD O MAHONEY, 20 Sep 2008
THAT BERNARD O MAHONEY HAS A PROBLEM WITH LEWS SON AS LEWS SON HAS CALLED BERNIE A POLICE INFORMER,

BERNIE THREW HIS TOYS OUT OF HIS PRAM !

AND THE REVIEW BY (MACCA) ON HERE IS IN FACT BERNARD O MAHONEY,
HE NEVER CHANGES , HE TRIES TO INTIMIDATE FAMILY'S AND KIDS .

SAD !!!!!!!

Lew Yates, 28 Aug 2008
I would like to reassure everybody who is able to read one particular `review` about this book (red - farther etc...) that unlike his star struck son, Big Lewies story does not rely on innuendo and fantasy. He has fought long and hard for the respect he is quite rightly given and it is a sad day when one of his own sets out to betray him and lie in order to fulfil their own deluded visions of grandeur. Shame on those too who are providing that person with the oxygen to insult and demean his own Father. They claim to be friends but the evidence suggests otherwise. For those of you fortunate enough never to have visited Manae, all I can suggest is you conjour up an image of half a dozen houses, a local shop and fields and fields and fields. Quite how any individual could terrorise that area or indeed control it is beyond me. The only thing the locals do have trouble controlling is vermin which in recent years have thankfully diminished. To even suggest Lew was a bad Father is an abhorrent insult. A man with failings maybe, but show me any man who doesn't have failings. I have not commented on `that other book yet` but I shall do in due course via the correct authority. It certainly raises more questions than it promises to answer, how can a 30 something year old man be on the run for `most of his life` when he also claims to have been in prison? Are you still on the run when your in prison? I know prisons are easy these days but surely the police know who are in them? Twenty `armed robberies` we look forward to reading the details, but no doubt it will be a case of `I cant talk about that?` Unfortunately when defending oneself - whether it be confidently down the pub or in a Court of Law, the truth has to emerge or the argument - or indeed case - is lost.

Yates stories , 27 Aug 2008
I red billys dads book and thought it waz really gud he seemed like a top geezer who looked after his kidz and family and things but now i have red billys vershion of events on his site and in the paper it seems that his farthers is a load of rubbish. I dont like saying it but its got to be true otherwise billy would not say that about his own farther. Billy even left his farther and was adopted by gipsys, that says somthing to me. Looking forwood to billys book def regret buying his farthers, hes ,mugged us all of.

WILD THING, 17 Aug 2008
THE REVIEWER WHO STATED THAT LEW YATES NEVER FOUGHT ROY SHAW IS OH SO WRONG.....MY WIFE AND I WERE AT THE FIGHT AT THE ILFORD PALAIS, AS WAS LENNY MCLAINE AND SEVERAL OTHER CELEBS...SORRY...PETER AND PATRICIA GINGELL

Excellent read, 14 Aug 2008
I purchased this book & read cover to cover in a day, its that good.

Exploring o lot of his issues at home as well as the work side of things makes it quite a refreshing read.

Theres plenty of punch ups & stories from his time on the door, plus info on his fight with Roy pretty boy shaw rifght back to his personal relationships & how they affected him & his kids.

Without spoiling too much of the book its a really good read & shows Lew to be very old school ( not a bad thing) with regards to fighting, preffering to use his fists/head rather than guns that are so often the case nowadays.

4/5

Gripping thoughtful read, 31 Oct 2008
An eye-opening look at how the globalisation of organised crime effects day-to-day life-whether we like it or not.

The timing of the liberalistion of the international financial markets and the coincidental collapse of communism in central and eastern Europe and the USSR means that the face of crime has changed for ever.

And as the author points out, so long as the profits are so big and demands for illegal products so high, no amount of policing can ever stamp it out. In fact, the more resources poured in to the "War on Crime", the bigger organised crime becomes......

Very readable and jampacked full of interesting facts!, 28 Sep 2008
I bought this book after reading a serialisation in a paper, and found it a really fascinating read. Everything from prostitution to guns to drugs to cyber crime to diamonds to people trafficking is covered in a wide ranging examination of the globalised nature of the black market, and its enormous influence on society and politics.

Not just about the drugs!!, 12 Sep 2008
Ok so, like many before me, I guess I have to establish some credentials before I review.......... I have worked both inside and against (at the same time!) much of the murky world chronicled by Glenny and would consider it a pretty good outsiders account of most aspects. It creates a very good spring board for the inquisitive but will unfortunately be missed by the general masses for any real impact.

However, I have to contradict a previous reviewer (or two) in that drugs is not the main driver/funder for criminal activity these days, nor does Glenny susbscribe to this misdirection. The various major criminal groupings are more than savvy enough to have long established their own intelligence and corporate networks; these devices shrewdly keep them one step ahead of the game and dictate which commodity, because yes dear reader it is big business we are talking about here, is likely to attract the least law-enforcement scrutiny, minimum sentencing if caught and, last but by no means least, the maximum profit in individual countries that they traffick to or through.

Currently, people trafficking and smuggling (there is a distinct difference!) is top of the charts; a "re-usable" commodity, easily dispatched with very low overheads and the bonus of minimal risk through comparatively minimal prosecutions.

Do my "fellow" reviewers therefore consider that we legalise slavery, of primarily women and children with smattering of menfolk, and all that this vile trade and it's sub-trades entail in the modern world quite so glibly as they do the legalisation of drugs from their false, and dare I say naive, deductions?

Scary but true..., 11 Jun 2008
This a frightening but fascinating book, which brings together the keen-eyed journalism Glenny displayed in the 1990s, with a tale of the kind of organised crime that touches us all, whether we know it or not.

Glenny tours the world, and wisely does not try his hand at thriller-writing as he does so. The stories, and their contexts, are fascinating enough to be simply laid out before us. In each case, the most compelling parts are the history and analysis of how that kind of crime took off, in that place and that time. While there are undercurrents that are common throughout, what stands out starkly are the location and era-specific details of the conditions that allow major crime to flourish. I would have liked to have seen something more about how these national and international crime groups link together; however, given the amount of detail at his disposal, perhaps the author is saving this for his next book.

The level of detail is impressive, and the sources authoritative. Glenny has managed to bring in a tremendous amount of information, without leaving the reader feeling swamped and overwhelmed. The book should be compulsory reading for anyone aspiring to senior levels of government. Because what strikes this reader, is how in each case the myopia, stupidity, connivance and outright greed of governments have created the conditions for organised crime to grow and thrive.


Indepth Study, 14 May 2008
Misha Glenny delves deep into organised crime in this study of a post cold-war, globalised world. Indepth and at times utterly fascinating this book covers a wide blanket of criminals from the Balkans to India, from Colombia to Russia and beyond.
However the linkage between each criminal group is not evident and there is not a significant coherant argument concerning globalisation. On one hand he appears to advocate the legalisation of all drugs whilst on the other going into great detail concerning tobacco smuggling and counterfeiting and the negative effects this causes.
The pace is at times frantic and it is sometimes hard to keep up with the various names of individuals and groups which at times gives the book a disjointed feel.
However overall this is an incredibly well researched, valuable modern social history.

An Amazing book of Survival, 28 Aug 2008
Graham Johnson writes this book from the perpective of the man who the book is based on - Stephen French. Having met with Stephen and done hundreds of hours of interviews the book totaly feels like its being written from the man himself. The author writes the story from Stephens perspective to give a closer feeling to the the personal stories of his life as if hes telling them. The book has so many stories to tell of extrmely dangerous conflict situations between rival gangs, feuds with fellow crew members and the author does not hold back. The author says in the first few pages how he really wanted to get the reader a feeling of Stephens perspective. I really felt you got a very strong sense of the man from this book and read it in 2 days. This guy had many wild encounters for decades. Many people would surely be dead or incarcerated if they were in the same situations. Find out how he survived and how Stephen was able to make change his circumstances by turning his back on crime. A facinating read and clearly written book.

Great!, 31 Jul 2008
Excellent book!

Unlike another book i recently read on a similar subject this is a well written book with some great stories of life amongst gangland britain.



Same old self serving story, 04 Jul 2008
Read quite a lot of these style of books and they all seem to have pretty much the same lines,ie us real gangsters,us real hard men and its more like an ego trip thing however this guy is slightly different in that hes actually educated but still lets himself down by making himself out to be the toughest man on the planet and as we all know most of these types only tell the story when they are winners never losers,however history usually tells the true story even great toughs like the late Lenny McLean & Roy Shaw were beaten by fairly average people so on that score the story i felt was more of the same,as for racism certainly never saw any of that maybe there were more white dealers than colours , but all in all if you like the hood element this book is quite interesting

Great read about Liverpool as a city, 20 Apr 2008
Great read very honest and a all the more disturbing because its true. Having been in the Grafton many times I know how real the book is. I read liverpool stories as often as they are published, and this is as entertaining as any I have read recently. The topic is a disturbing one, but a sad endightment of the society we live in to day. The Frenchman is a scary character indeed, but if you live in that world then there are scary people around every corner. This book doesnt glorify anything, its just the way it is. The more real, the more terrifying it becomes. If you like fiction try Liveroppl author Conrad Jones, and his thrillers,Soft Target, Soft Target 2, and three. They are all set in Liverpool, mostly in the city centre and around Anfield, excellent reading by a local author. Fantastic reading!!!

superb read, 01 Apr 2008
I don't know about you but normally when I read a book of this sort involving violence, and organised crime. I tend to find that my eyes roll to the back of my head a lot while thinking why am i reading this catalogue of events, which just serve to show us how hard the subject is; and how he is to be feared etc, etc without showing us any substance or reasoning behind his actions other than to save face. Here though in this 200 odd pages we have the likes of which I have never read before in a true crime novel, and that is reasoning, intelligence of thought, and acceptence of guilt.

We firt meet the man Stephen 'The Devil' French when he talks about growing up in the southend of Liverpool, born into a mixed race family ( I live in the north end Walton). The area he lived in was Toxteth, it's an area that was as underprivelleged then as it is today to say the least, and from this point you get the sense that the subject would have done anything to escape the 'ghetto' as he calls it. He starts out his criminal life as a mugger and house burgler.

He tells us about the Toxteth riots, and it is here he reveals something that shows us that he is not your usual violent brute of a man. He explains that after the riots the police could not come into the area, the recession was well under way which resulted in no money, and no jobs. So where was the money going to come from? Drugs!! it's not just econimics that aid the selling of drugs but also the social enviroment (something I never ever considered). so really we get his thoughts and analysis of the situations he finds himself in at various times. this continues right through the book, which only adds to the enjoyment of it.

A majority of people who have read the book accuse Stephen of being Racist. I'm white and did not find that he was, or is. This is because I understand that for a long time in Liverpool, it was an us and them attitude from both races, and at various times his associations with white people have led to conflict. An example of which is when he is working at the Grafton (imagine the bar out of Star Wars crossed with Fraggle Rock and you have the Grafton). He is running the door of a club at a time when racism was stopping black people from crossing the door as a punter, let alone working there and he has a run in with a predominantly white firm who want him off the job. After the initial hostilities we see that Stephen goes on to tell us that he became friends with the ringleader of the gang, and was genuinnly saddened by his death.

I do have some issues with it though, well a couple of questions more than anything. what did his girlfriend do for him to walk away from her? and did he really say when he got his bail from his missus dad who was in the real thing. 'you to me are everything'? What a pearler, he's a legend for this line if nothing else. wherever you are Stephen it was a good read. Good luck to you!

pead off, 27 Sep 2008
this is not an autobiography,its a coppers account and i was bord stiff afer a few pages...an autobiography with this guy would be a better idea in my opinion....awfull read

cocky, 29 Aug 2008
Highly recomended book if you like this sort of read. Everyone I have passed it on to loved it and could not put it down.

A compelling, must-read., 07 Sep 2006
Like I've said, a comeplling read about a fascinating character. I'd never even heard of the man before I read some excerpts form this book and I rushed out to find it right away. If you're into this type of book you'll love it, but I'd advise anyone to read it. Whether you agree with his chosen profession or not, you have to bow to the criminal genius that is/was Curtis Warren and this well written tale illustrates just how good at his 'job' Warren was, until he slipped up, that is! But I won't ruin it for you. Just buy this book, simple as. It's a must have, I can't recommend it highly enough. Hopefully, when Mr.Warren gets out of prison in a few years he might bless us with his own version of his astonishing life-story, but until then this will set the scene for you, about the man known as the 'Cocky Watchman', possibly the biggest drug dealer Europe has ever seen. Buy it. Now.

very good read, 23 Aug 2005
top book

pass this book at your peril, 20 Nov 2004
outstanding account of a underworld character
shame the man himself declined to comment,
wonder where all the millions are that they never found,bet hes laughing his cods off

Don't bother, 05 Jun 2008
Really badly written - The authors attempts to "talk street" are just silly. Full of clichés and unnecessary glorification. His sycophantic approach to the murderer Ken Noye would be almost laughable if the subject matter was not so serious.
There are much better crime books out there.


Great read, 12 May 2008
This is a really interesting book on the crime scene based on true events from a "supergrass". A great author who tells the story of drugs and violence in a way that I could not put the book down. Not only a great read but an education in some of the biggest crimelords / drug dealers in the UK's past. Get it!

Hypocritical Claptrap., 14 Jun 2007
This dodgy Scouse geezer wants us to believe he turned his back on crime because of the drugs trade which apparently was causing a lot more hurt to people than his own method of dealing with rivals, grasses, enemies etc. It's ok for him to mete out extreme ultra violence to all and sundry and to make money off the back of it, but drugs are really bad. What a hypocrite. He even admits to smoking cannabis himself.

A Gripping Read, 05 Jan 2007
One of the best true crime books ive read, so much so i felt i had to review it. Undoubtedly Paul Grimes was a proper villain back in the day - his exploits with the 'Hole in the Wall gang' tell all. He turned his back on crime and became what every criminal says they despise - a grass or in Pauls case - a supergrass because of his stance against the drugs trade. Fair play, he had it all and lost it all - and his rise and fall is well documented in this book. Its an honest reflection of his life and its all true unlike a lot of other so called villains and hardmen who spout absolute boll***s throughout their pages. And with regard to the review that says about him giving curtis warren a good slap and him being young - thats real life, you want to be a standover man and live in that world be prepared for the consequences. I recommend bernard o'mahoneys wannabe in my gang for another good read on the pitfalls and realities of the drug trade, maybe then you can appreciate that what grimes did was perhaps save a few lives -if only for a short while.

Great read, 30 Mar 2005
Paul Grimes's story of how he turned suoergrass after the death of his son from drugs is a cracking read. He charts his rise in the Liverpool underworld and then his fall, when he does a deal with Customs. Next to From Gangland to Promised Land and Essex Boys it's the best book I've read this year.

What a book!, 12 Feb 2005
A great read from start to finish. At the end of it you kind of feel a bit sorry for him in a strange way. No one likes a grass do they but you can see it from his side of the story. He was just trying to do what he saw as right. Although through his criminal life he was a bully and a theif and beat many people as they says what goes around comes around. He got what was coming to him - NOTHING. He could of been sitting on millions now he has nothing, I would not like to be in his shoes today. What they all got up to was amazing,but all of them have paid either with their lives or with prison.

LEW YATES AND BERNARD O MAHONEY, 20 Sep 2008
THAT BERNARD O MAHONEY HAS A PROBLEM WITH LEWS SON AS LEWS SON HAS CALLED BERNIE A POLICE INFORMER,

BERNIE THREW HIS TOYS OUT OF HIS PRAM !

AND THE REVIEW BY (MACCA) ON HERE IS IN FACT BERNARD O MAHONEY,
HE NEVER CHANGES , HE TRIES TO INTIMIDATE FAMILY'S AND KIDS .

SAD !!!!!!!

Lew Yates, 28 Aug 2008
I would like to reassure everybody who is able to read one particular `review` about this book (red - farther etc...) that unlike his star struck son, Big Lewies story does not rely on innuendo and fantasy. He has fought long and hard for the respect he is quite rightly given and it is a sad day when one of his own sets out to betray him and lie in order to fulfil their own deluded visions of grandeur. Shame on those too who are providing that person with the oxygen to insult and demean his own Father. They claim to be friends but the evidence suggests otherwise. For those of you fortunate enough never to have visited Manae, all I can suggest is you conjour up an image of half a dozen houses, a local shop and fields and fields and fields. Quite how any individual could terrorise that area or indeed control it is beyond me. The only thing the locals do have trouble controlling is vermin which in recent years hav