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

Mezrich, Ben

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1476771898 ISBN 13: 9781476771892

Publisher: Atria Books, 2015

Synopsis

One of the Wall Street Journal&;s Best Business Books of 2015

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 protégé 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 more 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.&;

About this title

Review

"A harrowing and truly Russian tale about the river of greed and corruption that gushed out of post-Communist Russia, carried men to power and opulence, drowned them in murder and betrayal, and led to the rise of Vladimir Putin."--Lev Golinkin, author of A Backpack, a Bear, and Eight Crates of Vodka

"Mezrich turns his keen journalistic eye to Russia...and...the oligarchs... Mezrich focuses on two such men, a mentor and his young protégé, who accumulated staggering wealth before personal differences tore apart their relationship... Mezrich's ability to tell a true (and well-documented) story in a way that makes it look and feel like the most involving of narratives is nearly unparalleled. He is one of the few writers whose name on a piece of nonfiction guarantees not only quality but also interest, no matter the subject, and this fine book is one more example of just how talented a storyteller he is."--Booklist (Starred Review)

"Mezrich relates the story in the form of a true-life novel. The bestselling author has used the device before, including in The Accidental Billionaires, which provided the basis for The Social Network... Interviews, first-person sources, court documents, and newspaper accounts as the basis for his narrative... make the story more accessible."--Financial Times

"With his knack for turning narrative nonfiction into stories worthy of the best thriller fiction, Ben Mezrich is one of our favorite writers."--Omnivoracious

"Wolf Hall on the Moskva!"--Bookpage.com

"Assassination plots, intimidation tactics, political maneuvering and money in unfeasibly large quantities... Based on a year of interviews with high-profile sources, it fleshes out almost 20 years of history with journalistic color and anecdotes."

--GQ

"[A] fascinating and often chilling read."--The Sport (UK)

"Unputdownable."--Mail on Sunday

"Ben Mezrich knows how to find a good story. In his latest, the Boston-based writer has a corker."--Boston Globe

"The real-life tale of ... Putin's ascendency to power. After the fall of communism in Russia, a small new class developed, that of the oligarchs... the ambitious and opportunistic businessmen who led the wild and lawless economic conversion from state-run industries to market capitalism.... Mezrich's well-written account of this era of Russian history illuminates the tumultuous conversion of communism to capitalism."--Jacksonville News

Book Description

A gripping and shocking insight into the lives of Russia’s most famous oligarchs from New York Times bestselling author of The Accidental Billionaires and Bringing Down the House.

Edition details

• Publisher: Atria Books
• Publication date: 2015
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1476771898
• ISBN 13: 9781476771892
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 280