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Gangs Ii
In this sequel to the bestselling Gangs, Ross Kemp once again infiltrates groups of the deadliest criminals in countries as varied and far-reaching as Argentina, Bulgaria and Kenya.In Poland, while investigating Neo-Nazi football hooligans, Ross is tear-gassed at a football match as he shadows an elite police riot squad. In Columbia he meets the Sicarios, criminals who operate as hit-squads and who specialise in kidnapping and bombing. And in East Timor he comes eyeball to eyeball with the gangs that are bringing the country to the verge of collapse, and witnesses their primeval initiation rites.Risking his life, Ross goes deep into the realms of gangland culture, and in this nail-biting and enlightening book, reveals its most terrifying secrets.
- GenresCrimeNonfiction
240 pages, Paperback
First published September 25, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 11, 2015
Simply put do you like reading about gangs? If the answer is YES then I think this book is worth picking up because you're given an up close and personal interaction with different gangs from all over the world with Ross Kemp leading the way!
Personally, I found this book to be just as good as the first one and was happy to see another book had been published. The way Kemp writes allows you to picture the dark, dangerous grittiness of different gangs and how they work as a collective. While we mostly associate gangs with badness in the world...What IF that was the only world you knew? What if that was the world you were born into. Yes, sometimes it does come down to choice if you join a gang but for some of these people it seems like it's their only hope of ever having some type of life.
Personally, I found this book to be just as good as the first one and was happy to see another book had been published. The way Kemp writes allows you to picture the dark, dangerous grittiness of different gangs and how they work as a collective. While we mostly associate gangs with badness in the world...What IF that was the only world you knew? What if that was the world you were born into. Yes, sometimes it does come down to choice if you join a gang but for some of these people it seems like it's their only hope of ever having some type of life.
June 21, 2021
A solid follow up to the first Gangs book. Always a bit more real when one of the chapters focuses on your nearest city, a place that I've generally felt safe in. I do remember going to visit an ex-gf's nan in one of areas in Liverpool mentioned and I was a bit on edge walking through. Maybe because I'd just seen the TV series associated with the book or maybe because I'm a bit soft.
Interestingly the book finishes with a mention of gangs being a problem of society, not of one particular race or city, something that seems to be lost on media commentaries when focusing heavily on London based gang violence today. It was nice to see a well balanced view from Ross despite seeing mindless gang-related violence, both in Liverpool, and further afield.
Interestingly the book finishes with a mention of gangs being a problem of society, not of one particular race or city, something that seems to be lost on media commentaries when focusing heavily on London based gang violence today. It was nice to see a well balanced view from Ross despite seeing mindless gang-related violence, both in Liverpool, and further afield.
September 7, 2019
I started reading this book immediately after I finished the first book. I won't repeat the review for that one here, but I will say that in this book, Ross Kemp has shown us a bit more things that happened off camera and therefore weren't documented. Other than that it's still just supplementary to the tv show, in my opinion.
October 4, 2019
A good read and not too long. An interesting insight into gangs from around the world and the reasons, poverty being the main cause that enables them to flourish.
February 16, 2013
An actor uses the "hard man" image of the characters he has played to get access to gang members in various countries. He is successful because these young men are as keen to be photographed with him, as he to be with them.
And his journalistic skills are quite effective in getting them to talk about themselves, their attitudes and their lives. So this is a good piece of reportage.
Unfortunately he hasn't been as assiduous in that other part of the journalist's trade - research. His poor understanding to the background and history leads him to frequently misunderstand what these people are saying to him, and his generalising platitudes are sometimes painful to read. The resulting errors that I can detect, make me vary wary of accepting the information he gives about societies with which I am unfamiliar.
This was an unusual opportunity, largely wasted in the search for a flashy soundbite. The book's TV origins are all too clear.
And his journalistic skills are quite effective in getting them to talk about themselves, their attitudes and their lives. So this is a good piece of reportage.
Unfortunately he hasn't been as assiduous in that other part of the journalist's trade - research. His poor understanding to the background and history leads him to frequently misunderstand what these people are saying to him, and his generalising platitudes are sometimes painful to read. The resulting errors that I can detect, make me vary wary of accepting the information he gives about societies with which I am unfamiliar.
This was an unusual opportunity, largely wasted in the search for a flashy soundbite. The book's TV origins are all too clear.
September 10, 2016
Good read if you're interested in gang violence and its causes throughout the world, covering Columbia, neo-nazi Polish football hooligans, East Timor, racially based gangs in LA, Kenya and Liverpool. Kemp does a good job of showing similarities in the causes of gang violence in the different countries as well as the differences in the gangs approaches. Doesn't really add a lot of information if you've seen the Sky tv series though.
September 19, 2012
I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/11411417
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/11411417
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews