Sanne de Boer

In the News

Australian True Crime Podcast

Sanne spoke about her book The New Mafia on the Australian True Crime Podcast, hosted by the enthusiastic Meshel Laurie.

Listen on Spotify

Underworlds Podcast

The Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime invited Sanne to be a guest on their podcast Underworlds. GI-TOC’s director Mark Shaw interviewed her about her book, about living in Calabria and the international challenges to investigate the ‘Ndrangheta’s illegal business.

Listen on Spotify

Among Book Riot’s Best Nonfiction Audiobooks

Book Riot recommends Sanne de Boer’s ‘Mafiopoli’ as an audiobook that “Would be a True Crime to Miss” and writes: ‘It’s easy to think you’re listening to a thriller or TV drama but this is real life…an unstoppable force with an unstoppable audiobook.’

Strong Words Magazine’s book of the week

The beautiful British book magazine Strong Words not only made Mafiopoli (currently available in paperback as The New Mafia) “book of the week” and called it “an exceptional investigation into the global muscle of the Calabrian mafia”, but also dedicated a very nice, three-page article to it.

Strong Words Magazine

English edition of Mafiopoli

As announced by The Bookseller, Mafiopoli: Living Among the ’Ndrangheta, Italy’s Most Powerful Crime Organization will be in bookstores in the UK, Europe, Australia and the Commonwealth from June 20th, 2024.

UPDATE November 2025: The newest paperback edition received a new title The New Mafia: The Inside Story of the Rise of the ‘Ndrangheta. This is the edition currently on sale in the UK and the Commonwealth.

Read the article

About the Author

Sanne de Boer is a Dutch journalist who has lived in Calabria since 2006. She is the first foreign journalist based in Calabria to write about the ‘Ndrangheta, and regularly appears
on TV and radio as a mafia expert. Her first book, The New Mafia, was published originally as Mafiopoli and was nominated for the ‘Brusseprijs’, a prestigious award for the best Dutch book of journalism.

[email protected]

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Photograph by: Sacha de Boer

Reviews Mafiopoli

‘A beautiful, courageous and important book.’

Bas Mesters, former Italy correspondent for NOS and NRC Handelsblad

★★★★

‘A compelling portrait of the largest criminal multinational in the world.’

Volkskrant

‘Besides Gomorra by Roberto Saviano, this is one of the best books on the mafia available.’

NBD Biblion

‘What a book! Sanne de Boer reveals the true face of the 'Ndrangheta. She is the perfect guide in an utterly dark world.’

Gerlof Leistra, crime journalist for Elsevier Weekblad

‘A fascinating exploration of Italy’s most powerful and silent crime organization.’

Het Financieele Dagblad

‘Mafiopoli shows how the 'Ndrangheta infiltrated successfully into our economic and political structures.’

Trouw

‘A book that gives an easy-to-read, excitingly told insight into the world of the Calabrian mafia’

Süddeutsche Zeitung

‘A real eye-opener of a book, written in an entertaining and exciting way’

Die Weltwoche

‘The author eloquently interweaves her personal Calabrian history and everyday observations with knowledgeable explanations of the most diverse aspects of this criminal organization’

ekz Bibliothekenservice

‘Mafiopoli helps to better understand the mafia phenomenon, thanks to the depth with which it permeates an entire society and the lives of individuals’