Once Upon a Time in Russia: The Rise of the Oligarchs—A True Story of Ambition, Wealth, Betrayal, and Murder

Posted on 07 March 2017 by Ben Mezrich

The bestselling author of Bringing Down the House sixty three weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and the basis for the hit movie 21 and The Accidental Billionaires the basis for the Academy Award winning film The Social Network delivers an epic drama of wealth, rivalry, and betrayal among mega wealthy Russian oligarchs and its international repercussions Once Upon a Time in Russia is the untold true story of the larger than life billionaire oligarchs who surfed the waves of privatization to reap riches after the fall of the Soviet regime Godfather of the Kremlin Boris Berezovsky, a former mathematician whose first entrepreneurial venture was running an automobile reselling business, and Roman Abramovich, his dashing young prot g who built a multi billion dollar empire of oil and aluminum Locked in a complex, uniquely Russian partnership, Berezovsky and Abramovich battled their way through the Wild East of Russia with Berezovsky acting as the younger man s krysha literally, his roof, his protector.Written with the heart stopping pacing of a thriller but even compelling because it is true this story of amassing obscene wealth and power depicts a rarefied world seldom seen up close Under Berezovsky s krysha, Abramovich built one of Russia s largest oil companies from the ground up and in exchange made cash deliveries including 491 million dollars in just one year But their relationship frayed when Berezovsky attacked President Vladimir Putin in the media and had to flee to the UK Abramovich continued to prosper Dead bodies trailed Berezovsky s footsteps, and threats followed him to London, where an associate of his died painfully and famously of Polonium poisoning Then Berezovsky himself was later found dead, declared a suicide.Exclusively sourced, capturing a momentous period in recent world history, Once Upon a Time in Russia is at once personal and political, offering an unprecedented look into the wealth, corruption, and power behind what Graydon Carter called the story of our age. Best Download [ Once Upon a Time in Russia: The Rise of the Oligarchs—A True Story of Ambition, Wealth, Betrayal, and Murder ] Author [ Ben Mezrich ] – kino-fada.fr This is the True Story of The Rise of the Russian Oligarchs These are their actual images and their properties.What an Amazing tale of wealth and murder as communism comes to an end in Russia A handful of men were savvy enough to jump on this privatization of previously state owned businesses These few men rose to obscene wealth by purchasing companies for millions that were valued at billions within years of purchase.Boris BerezovskyBoris rose through the ranks by first purchasing a car This is the True Story of The Rise of the Russian Oligarchs These are their actual images and their properties.What an Amazing tale of wealth and murder as communism comes to an end in Russia A handful of men were savvy enough to jump on this privatization of previousl...3 stars Once Upon a Time in Russian is scary and fascinating and at times a bit tedious The author has compiled information about a number of oligarchs in post soviet Russia, and their role and tactics in shaping Russian politics from the mid 1990s to 2000 during the Yelstin presidency By the second half of the book, Putin ascends to the presidency and while he is not painted as a heroic figure he is shown as wrestling some power out of the hands of the oligarchs essentially to 3 stars Once Upon a Time in Russian is scary and fascinating and at times a bit tedious The author has compiled information about a number of oligarchs in post soviet Russia, and their role and tactics in shaping Russian politics from the mid 1990s to 2000 during the Yelstin presidency By the second half of the book, Putin ascends to the presidency and while he is not painted as a heroic figure he is shown as wrestling some power out of the hands of the oligarchs essentially to assert his place and control It is a book about power struggles, greed, ruthlessness, corruption and violence and it does not paint a very flattering picture of Russian contemporary politics The tedious aspect of the book At times it reads almost like a mechanical desensitized recounting of killings, betrayals...The fall of the USSR led to a rush to capitalise on the new state system as it rapidly became privatised One such man, Boris Berezovsky, a former mathematician, became a billionaire buying state television on top of his car empire He used the media to get Boris Yeltsin re elected, giving him political leverage in the process He took on an eager young prot g , Roman Abramovich, and together became even richer by controlling Russia s oil and aluminium markets They were part of a small group The fall of the USSR led to a rush to capitalise on the new state system as it rapidly became privatised One such man, Boris Berezovsky, a former mathematician, became a billionaire buying state television on top of his car empire He used the media to get Boris Yeltsin re elected, giving him political leverage in the process He took on an eager young prot g , Roman Abramovich, and together became even richer by controlling Russia s oil and aluminium markets They were part of a small group called oligarchs, business magnates of enormous wealth, who also had political power And they were responsible for giving the world the ruthless Vladimir Putin, a man they made president, believing they could control him and discovered too late that they couldn t.Ben Mezrich s book tells the interesting true story of the rise and fall of Berezovsky which in turn highlights the corrupt nature of Russian business and po...This book is a real page turner, written with the breathless feel of a political thriller It could also be viewed as a cautionary tale about completely unfettered capitalism The Russian oligarchs, who rose in the 1990s after communism in the old Soviet Union fell apart, are profiled in their ruthless grab for money and power as state held businesses were privatized These were smart, unprincipled men who made billions, but who had to employ bodyguards in order to go about their daily lives This book is a real page turner, written with the breathless feel of a political thriller It could also be viewed as a cautionary tale about completely unfettered capitalism The Russian oligarchs, who r...A stranger than fiction tale of the oligarchs that took control of an unbelievable amount of Russia s GDP as it transitioned to capitalism Mezrich does a poor job of telling the story, primarily concerned with Boris Berezovsky, somehow managing to deflate this incredible tale.Once Upon a Time in Russia by Ben Mezrich, published by Atria Books.Category History Russia Publication Date June 02, 2015If you are looking for an eye opener about the fall of communism and the rise of democracy capitalism in Russia, this is about as good as you will get This true story revolves around the life of Boris Berezovsky who worked his way up from a car salesman to one of the richest men in Russia and maybe the world He made his fortune by backing the right man Boris Once Upon a Time in Russia by Ben Mezrich, published by Atria Books.Category History Russia Publication Date June 02, 2015If you are looking for an eye opener about the fall of communism and the rise of democracy capitalism in Russia, this is about as good as you will get This true story revolves around the life of Boris Berezovsky who worked his way up from a car salesman to one of the richest me...I was fortunate to get my hands on an advanced paperback copy of Once Upon a Time in Russia , and I m glad I did Ben Mezrich does a great job of pulling the reader in right away, with a mysterious meet of top oligarchs in Russia in July 2000 Then Mezrich takes you back to 1994 to tell the story of Boris Berezovsky Then fluidly brings in Roman Abramovich later in the book I really liked how the author fully described the decision points that each oligarch had to make at critical points in I was fortunate to get my hands on an advanced paperback copy of Once Upon a Time in Russia , and I m glad I did Ben Mezrich does a great job of pulling the reader in right away, with a mysterious meet of top oligarchs in Russia in July 2000 Then Mezrich takes you back to 1994 to tell the story of Boris Berezovsky Then fluidly brings in Roman Abramovich later in the book I really liked how the author fully described the decision points that each oligarch had to make at critical points in their rise to the upper echelons of Russian society Then Putin s rise to the top collides with Berezovsky s and Abramovich s wor...For NetGalley.It recently came to my attention, having read quite a number of Russian classics over the years, that they all seem to be gray Following that thought, I discovered that ofttimes for me, mysteries or thrillers are red, books of encouragement are blue, fantasies register orange, and so on However, stories of long ago Russian history an...An excellent history of the oligarchs and their silent coup to govern Russia They thought they had another Yeltsin when they backed Putin, but instead they got an old style president that wanted all the power back in the hands of the state Reads like a crime novel.Mezrich has written a history of the rise of the rise of the Russian oligarchy complete with explosions, yachts, nuclear subs, assassinations, and atomic poisonings, that readslike a thrilling espionage novel than non fiction Especially timely reading, as I finished this on the eve of Trump releasing his proposed budget which is supposed to have the biggest cuts to government since post World War II, and the Oligarchs rose to power as the Russian government privatized much of the Mezrich has written a history of the rise of the rise of the Russian oligarchy complete with explosions, yachts, nuclear subs, assassinations, and atomic poisonings, that readslike a thrilling espionage novel than non fiction Especially timely reading, as I finished this on the eve of Trump releasing his proposed budget which is supposed to have the biggest cuts to government since post World War II, and the Oligarchs rose to power as the Russian government privatized much of the government they couldn t afford to maintain The government functions Trump cuts will likely be picked up by n...

Once Upon a Time in Russia: The Rise of the Oligarchs—A True Story of Ambition, Wealth, Betrayal, and Murder

07 March 2017

Ben Mezrich