A stunning account of 'Russia today' as Browser calls it ( )

Gripping read; can't wait to find out what happens next. Putin & his bunch are a nasty group. I wonder if Bill Browder is as saintly as he portrays himself? ( )

WOW! I only have two words - read it. ( )

Good. ( )

From the first chapter I was drawn in. I found this to be a captivating read albeit did drag on a bit. It read like a novel despite being a true story. What a rollercoaster about investment, corruption and Russia. 4.25/5 ( )

Absolute thriller of a high finance tale embroiled in corruption and murder. And eventual justice manifesting in the famed US Magnitsky Act used to target foreign persons involved in corruption and human rights issues. Despite the dreary topic, I found this book difficult to put down as it covers a tale spanning so many different sectors: investment banking, globalisation, the press and passing laws in Washington. Bill Browder is an inspiration but even more so was Sergei Magnistsky. ( )

A spine-tingling account of the author's experiences as an American financier in Russia, and his subsequent efforts to expose corruption in the country. Browder's story takes readers on a harrowing journey through the world of high finance, as well as the sinister (is there any other?) side of Russian politics and business. A real-life thriller that will keep readers on a razor's edge. ( )

Excellent story on doing business in Russia. ( )

This just didn’t ever get me, ya know? I’m as surprised as you are!

I’ve always been into geopolitical intrigue and the science of politics in our world. So, when Mr. Browder touches on those broader points, I’m totally in. It’s well written, and shares plenty of interesting facts about 90’s and early 00’s Russian politics.

But it is when Browder gets wrapped up in the more specific drama over rich people’s money, I get lost in the minutiae of the financial world— a world I care so little about. I can see where that is fun for some, just not me. ( )

Prequel to Freezing Order (2022)
Review of the Simon & Schuster hardcover edition (February, 2015)

It didn't make any financial sense.
Then I remembered why he would do this: because it is the Russian thing to do.
There’s a famous Russian proverb about this type of behavior. One day, a poor villager happens upon a magic talking fish that is ready to grant him a single wish. Overjoyed, the villager weighs his options: “Maybe a castle? Or even better—a thousand bars of gold? Why not a ship to sail the world?” As the villager is about to make his decision, the fish interrupts him to say that there is one important caveat: whatever the villager gets, his neighbor will receive two of the same. Without skipping a beat, the villager says, “In that case, please poke one of my eyes out.”
The moral is simple - when it comes to money, Russians will gladly - gleefully, even - sacrifice their own success to screw their neighbour. - Bill Browder relating an anecdote from late 1997 about one of his early experiences with investments in Russia, excerpted from Red Notice

I'll confess that when Red Notice first appeared in early 2015, the related news of Magnitsky Legislation was then such a current topic in Canada that I felt like I already knew everything about it.

It was after being impressed by Browder's writing in Freezing Order (2022), that I decided I had to read the earlier book as well. I was just as impressed with it. Whether Browder has and had the assistance of a ghostwriter or whether he has simply studied the various tropes and techniques of suspense & thriller writing, he masterfully constructs a story of the rise and the downfall of his idealized plans for investment in Russia's future in the post-Soviet Communist era.

Again, Browder starts off with a in medias res vignette: his deportation from Russia in 2007. Only then does he go into the 15 or so years of backstory of how he began his Hermitage Investment Group after first becoming aware of the possibilities of investment growth in the former countries of the Soviet Bloc. Despite early warning signs (see the 1997 anecdote above), he and his staff persisted in exposing Russian attempts to defraud his investors through the legal system. At one time it even seemed as if his goals were aligned with those of the dictator Vladimir Putin, who gleefully joined in with pursuing the prosecution of oligarchs. It of course finally became clear that Putin was doing this only for his own ends and enrichment.

Despite Browder's liquidating his Russian assets and assisting most of his staff to leave the country, several of his Russian lawyers refused to leave their homeland and had faith that justice and the legal system would win in the end. Tragically, Sergei Magnitsky (1972-2009) was framed in a tax evasion scheme and met his death under torture in a Russian prison. The corruption and injustice of the previous Russian Communist state was revealed to still be there and was as vicious as ever.

Red Notice tells the story of how this initiated Browder's worldwide campaign to obtain justice for Sergei Magnitsky and other victims of totalitarian kleptocracies by promoting the creation of legislation to sanction the profiteers of injustice. The story continues in the present day. ( )

It's been a while since I knocked off 380 pages in a day. Despite being pretty familiar with Browder's story — at least the second half of it, after the murder of Sergei Magnitsky — I found Red Notice highly readable. In 40 punchy chapters we get the background to the author's entanglement in Russia's anarcho-capitalism, an account of the events leading to Magnitsky's death at the hands of Putin's gruesome gang, and the story of the important legislation that bears his (Mag's, not Vlad's) name.

Anyone who stands up to Putin is alright in my book, but Browder sure got into bed with some unsavoury characters as he worked his way up — he goes from working for Robert Maxwell, to Salomon Bros, to a key deal brokered by the notoriously dodgy diamond dealer Bennie Steinmetz, all within the space of two or three years. As Damascene stories go, Browder's conversion to anti-corruption/human rights campaigner is one of the more jolting — but all the more impressive for that. ( )

A must-read for anyone following our current political crisis with respect to Russian interference in our democracy. It gives all the context for how we got where we are today. ( )

The story's fascinating but the writing leaves something to be desired. I'd suggest seeing the movie instead but there isn't one. (Side note: There's a documentary called Justice for Sergei about the man who was murdered so if you're short on time, that might be the way to go.) ( )

True story of the first investor in grossly undervalued Russian companies, who makes enormous returns for himself and his partners, but antagonized Russian oligarchs without much thought about the risks to himself, his family, his employees and agents. Then, the unthinkable happens, and Bill Browder has a new mission: justice and retribution. Non-fiction that seems too incredible to be true. ( )

Bill Browder gives us a true story but he tries too much.

He tries too much to persuade us that the only good Russians are the ones that stayed by his side. Everyone else is corrupt to the bone, indifferent to their community's sufferings and injustice, only interested in earning money no matter what.
He tries too much to persuade us that Putin is an evil, malevolent, despicable dictator who cares not at all about the country he rules, but only about his bank account and his comrades in crime.
He tries too much to persuade us that he (Browder) is a hard working, honest person, who upholds high ideals and values, and tries every day to bring justice to the best of his abilities.
He tries too much to persuade us that all the politicians that helped him bring the Magnitsky bill to vote were emotional, caring people and the rest were indifferent, cruel persons who couldn't see beyond the end of their noses.
He tries too much to persuade us that his adventure in Russia was the result of a conflict bound to happen between two opposite sides: the dishonest, cheating, criminal vs the good, honest, hardworking free market representatives.
He tries too much to persuade us that he is a good, benevolent person.

None in the western 'civilised', 'democratised' world we live in doubts the fact that Russia under Putin's regime is not a free and just state. But how much different from our western societies Russia really is?
Don't we face daily cases like the one Browder describes in the west? How much different are the cases of Edward Snowden, Julian Assnage, Mordechai Vanunu, Chelsey Manning, and so many others that chose to reveal the truth only to be condemned, unjustly sentenced and imprisoned or exiled?
Don't we have countless cases of torturing to death of innocent people by agencies like the CIA, the MI6, the Mossad, the Mabahith? Don't we have facilities like Guantanamo?
So why should we be awed or inspired by Browder's book? Only because we have the right to vote every four years?
Why should we be emotionally touched or care at all for Browder's success? Only because he managed to pass a bill that prohibits a few corrupt Russian officials to travel to the US? Or maybe because wherever he recounted the story of Sergei Magnitsky the audience burst into tears?

Browder is no more innocent than the people he accuses of stealing taxes from the Russian state (and I do believe him that they did).
The collapse of the Eastern Block saved western capitalism by a mathematically scheduled crisis, by introducing new, virgin markets to exploit (eventually the crisis wasn't avoided completely but delayed for a few years). Browder was one of our envoys arriving to these 'newfound' lands to spread our belief in money and wealth through debt; to teach the ignorant indigenous people the values of our true western religion: capitalism.
Without any remorse or hesitation he bought for pennies priceless stakes of exceptionally wealthy companies all over the ex-eastern-block countries. He made a fortune and at the same time the majority of the population of these countries became even poorer than they were before the political change. Of course he wasn't the only one. He knew very well that his efforts to exploit this new untapped wealth will bring him face to face against some of the most dangerous people in these countries. People that had already some power status from before and weren't going to allow any westerner to take what they considered to be theirs.

What kind of person decides to sink into the mud along with brutal, ruthless individuals?

Browder accuses his opponents of stealing from the Russian people and thus rendering them poorer. How exactly do we call his dealings in the ex-eastern markets when he was buying for a few dollars stocks of ex-public enterprises from naive poor people who didn't know what they had in their hands? People for which even a few dozen dollars were absolutely necessary to survive the day?

Browder made billions not because he is an honest, hard working person, but because he is as brutal and ruthless as the people who fought him in Russia.

Don't read this book as a manifesto about honesty and justice, but as the testimony of one of the combatants in an ugly and dishonest war between wealthy people. ( )

Bill Browder comes off as greedy and self-serving. He bemoans the fact that 22 Russian oligarchs managed to cheat the Russian people out of 39% of their public works while he seemed to have been doing exactly the same thing. However, the information about the enactment of the Magnitsky act is priceless. While I think his push to make the Russian government pay for the death of his "friend" and lawyer probably stems from a desire for vengeance rather than from any love of humanity, he nevertheless has accomplished a great deal in making Putin at least slightly responsive to law. ( )

Bill Browder went to Russia early in his career in the 90s, got involved in various deals around privatizations (many of which were horribly underpriced; the right thing for Russia would have been a much more orderly privatization, rather than being exploited by external traders and domestic oligarchs), then later got involved in crusades against corruption. As a result, he made enemies within Russia, and then some combination of political enemies and economic avarice led to a campaign against him, including the murder of a tax attorney working for him. Ultimately, Browder ended up becoming a human rights crusader rather than a fund manager.

This book makes me so angry at GHWB and especially Bill Clinton for failing to prioritize real reforms in Russia in the 90s. Putin, the oligarchs, and corruption in Russia all resulted from this.

(This audiobook would have been stronger if the author had narrated the entire book himself, rather than just the last chapter.) ( )

I read this after [b:Red Plenty: Inside the Fifties' Soviet Dream|6481280|Red Plenty Inside the Fifties' Soviet Dream|Francis Spufford|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1328267463s/6481280.jpg|6672528] and found it to be a good supplementary title. The first 2/3 of the book are well-written, and I found myself looking forward to finding out what happens next. But once Browder has his visa revoked and is prevented from entering Russia, the pacing really slows and doesn't ever speed up again, which is what took this review from 5 stars to 4.

Still, not many books can give you ~8 hours of 'page-turning' interest, especially when dealing with topics like international finance and human rights. Would definitely recommend reading, particularly for those with an interest in Soviet Russia and its impact on the current Russian Federation. ( )

The fascinating story of how Bill Browder, as the CEO of investment fund Hermitage Capital Management, challenged the corruption in Russia. This eventually leads to his lawyer Sergei Magnitsky being thrown in jail, tortured and beaten to death. Bill Browder's response led to the Magnitsky Act becoming law in the US and Europe. The book is almost like a thriller, and shows how enormously harmful corruption is. ( )

I was dubious as I started reading, I know nothing about finance and it was hard to either connect with or make sense of that world. Plus, he ended up at some, to my thinking, fairly unsavory businesses. I'm not even really sure that his venture in Russia, Hermitage Capital, sat well with me. But once he moved into the human drama of both finding out the fraud and who committed it and finding justice for Sergei, the book took a different turn. It was moving and gripping and I was a bit overcome by the ending. Well done.

Wow!

Such a quick read. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. Books like this are a rush of dopamine. The story is incredible, absolutely mind blowing. ( )

Brilliant story well told. Comes in two parts, the first is about the author's story of his early career, the foundation of Hermitage Capital, and his Russian investments. In itself this is excellent reading. Then follows the gripping story of his persecution by the Russian State, the death in prison of his lawyer and his consequential fight to get the Magnitsky Bill enacted. There is definitely a touch of self aggrandisement there, and there is also more to the story than is told in the book. Nevertheless an excellent read. ( )

https://nwhyte.livejournal.com/3368348.html

This is an impressive first-person account of one businessman who was ruthlessly targeted by the Kremlin for trying to operate freely in Russia. Browder managed to make a lot of money in Eastern Europe in the wild days immediately after the fall of Communism, but ran foul of the Russian authorities, who used the full force of bad law to strip his assets (of which he had a lot) and, much worse, arrested Browder's legal adviser Sergei Magnitsky, who then died as a result of his mistreatment in jail. Browder's is not the only such story, but it is very well told, and he has vindicated Magnitsky's memory by getting legislation passed in various jurisdictions allowing direct sanctions against those who have abused human rights. One or two people who I know personally show up in the narrative (in a good way!) which is always interesting too. Recommended. ( )

A rip-roaring ride through making a few billion, snagging a beautiful girl, and persecution by Putin. All true (well, that's the claim). ( )

“Russian Business culture is closer to that of a prison yard than anything else. In prison, all you have is your reputation. Your position is hard-earned and it is not relinquished easily. When someone is crossing the yard coming for you, you cannot stand idly by. You have to kill him before he kills you. If you don’t and if you manage to survive the attack, you’ll be deemed weak and before you know it, you will have lost your respect and become someone’s bitch. This is the calculus that every oligarch and every Russian politician goes through every day.” P 125

Absolutely compelling. Having no financial background, I had no idea that a book written about the author’s experiences with hedge funds in Russia could be so fascinating.

It gives an important look into Putin, the oligarchs and Russia today. Although President Trump is not mentioned in the book, I believe it helps explain our current administration’s very troubling attitude toward Russia.

If I were to make a list of contemporary books that everyone should read, this one would be on it. ( )