Product Description

David Hoffman, former Moscow bureau chief for the Washington Post, sheds light onto the hidden lives of Russia's most feared power brokers: the oligarchs. Focusing on six of these cunning and ruthless men-Alexander Smolensky, Yuri Luzhkov, Anatoly Chubais, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Boris Berezovsky, and Vladimir Gusinsky-Hoffman reveals how a few players rose to the pinnacle of Russia's new capitalism. The oligarchs started small. Before perestroika , they lived the lives of Soviet citizens, stuck in a dead-end system, cramped apartments, and long bread lines. But as Communism loosened, they found gaps in the economy and reaped their first fortunes by getting their hands on fast money. As the government weakened and their businesses flourished, they grew greedier. The state auctioned off its own assets, and they grabbed the biggest oil companies, mines, and factories. They went on wild borrowing sprees, taking billions of dollars from gullible western lenders. When the ruble collapsed, the tycoons saved themselves by hiding their assets and running for cover. This is a saga of brilliant triumphs and magnificent failures, the untold story of how a rapacious, unruly capitalism was born out of the ashes of Soviet communism.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #59055 in Books
• Published on: 2003-12-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 600 pages

Customer Reviews

Brilliant synopsis of what happend and why it all went wrong
Hoffman as the Moscow based chief for a US newpaper and Russian speaker was ideally placed as the events covered by this book occurred. Starting from the Fall of communism and the rise of a new business power elite the like of which Russia had never seen since 1917 through Yeltsin's faltering reign due to his health, to the change to Putin is over the 500 odd pages covered with a masterful handling of an incredible range of material and evidence. Hoffman gives a great feel of what set apart both the central characters from their different origins to their rises (and in most cases falls) from power with spectacular fortunes and egos being accumulated along the way. One of the real surprises and pleasures in the story is how he does not just focus on the new business magnates but other key economists and officials such as the Mayor of Moscow in showing how a very Russian model sought to break from its past and work to avoid a resurgence of communism as a free economy was forged.

The real strength of the book is a conveying of how it actually felt in Russia at that time (the abuses and the corruption); the simple but major errors made (such as the refusal to see the rouble was heading for a dramatic devaluation) and the government's (both centrally and via different agencies and state banks) naivete in letting a small elite continually profit at the expense of the majority.

While the book is rapidly being taken over by recent events under Putin with the recent imprisonment in 2003 of Khodorovsky who was one of the few survivors by the end of this book, hopefully the writer will attempt a sequel in bringing this masterpiece fully up to date.

Entertaining, informative, provocative.....a great read.
Having lived and worked in Russia for many years I experienced first-hand many of the changes of the 90's. However, this book provided many insights, often quite provocative into what was really happening in the 90's and many of the key players in Russia at that time. Particularly insightful are the backgrounds on the oligarchs as it helps us better understand their thinking, their drive and their ambition. Would Russian democracy have collapsed in 1996 without them? Perhaps it would have, though this is something we shall never know. Was Putin put in place by Berezovsky and then thrown to the wind as their interests diverged? Quite possible given the nature of Russian politics and the behaviour of oligarchs. What the book does demonstrate is the inextricable link between business and politics in Russia, something made very visible by colourful characters such as Berezovsky but which appears less so now with dour(relatively) characters such as Abramovich and Potanin.
Overall, a thoroughly enjoyable read and I look forward to a sequel in three to five years when the events of 2000 onwards can be evaluated with hindsight.

Splendid Reading
Hoffman has captured with force some of the key players in the transistion from failing communism state to aspiring capitalist society. The finest book of its kind to date. Well worth a second, third or even fourth read.