The Global Phenomenon of the Triads.
According to UN sources, the Triads pose the greatest potential criminal threat the world has ever known.
Over the last three centuries, wherever the Chinese have emigrated, they have taken their outlawed secret brotherhoods. Bound by archaic oaths, the Triads demand absolute loyalty, exacting brutal retribution from transgressors and opponents alike. Few have ever infiltrated their ranks; few still have survived to tell the tale.
Now internationally recognised Oriental expert and bestselling author Martin Booth tells the full, incredible story of the Triads - from their beginnings over two thousand years ago to the unrivalled criminal empire they operate today. Here he explains their rituals and mythologies, identifies the key figures and, perhaps most disturbingly of all, reveals how the Triads' interests have extended beyond the more "traditional" realms of extortion, narcotics, prostitution and money laundering to include hi-tech computer crime, arms dealing, blackmail and politics. Today their insidious influence transcends national and international boundaries to encompass the globe.
