Once Upon a Time in Russia: Ben Mezrich's Epic Tale of the Rise of the Oligarchs

Red Adair: A great account of two rival oligarchs in historical fiction format. A insight for me into the narcissistic minds of people that will crush and kill anyone standing between them and their drive for power and wealth. Also a great illustration of how the West was and possibly still is being played for suckers by the Oligarchs and the Russian regime.

Australia on Jul 09, 2023

Harshit Kumawat: The book is a dramatic account of rise of oilgarchs in Russia after the fall of Soviet Union. The book tells you the story of how very few people took control of almost 50% of Russia's GDP. It also reveals the dark and terrible side of Russian politics which is intermix of corruption, espionage, blackmailing and assassination.
It is an account of how few billionaire became sort of power brokers in Kremlin. They literally could put anybody in power. It was with their help with money and press that Putin rose to power and prominence and was made president of Russia. Later these same people realised the mistake they made and were at cross-roads with Putin.
This book I read along side another book "Putin's People" by Catherine Belton which gives detailed picture of events unfolded after collapse of Soviet Union.
Anyways this book was a good read. The author was able to narrate the incidents in very vivid manner as if he himself had witnessed them. 4 Starts from my side

India on May 16, 2023

L Power: A book that gets to the point and takes you by the hand through a ferocious Russian history of political power and its Oligarchs.

Really appreciate the effort and time by the author and his editing team to deliver this master piece of a book.

If you want to know about the last three decades of Russian, how it operates, this is the book.

United States on Mar 27, 2023

Colin Wardle: The author paints a fascinating insight of some of the oligarchs as well as the rise and relationship with Putin. Giving an idea of how we got to where we are today. Highly recommended.

United Kingdom on Mar 13, 2023

Amazon Customer: I read this after reading Robert Harris Harris's 'Archangel'. Unplanned; both were in my Kindle library and I was trying to ration out my (fictional) thrillers, so this was my next choice. As well as explaining the role of the oligarchs in post-communist Russia, it also gives an overview of that time of change. Characters from the headlines, such as Berezovsky and Litvinenko take on a more rounded and human form (although there *may* be some dramatic licence) as Ben Mezrich steers us through a dramatic period in Russian and World history - it actually feels more like a thriller than a work of non-fiction. Probably not the definitive account, but it's a useful read and recommended.

United Kingdom on Jul 14, 2022

Bill Foldberg: I heard the author on a podcast and wanted to give it a read due to the nature of eastern Europe's current geopolitical climate (putting it lightly)and found his work appealing.I found this book as as easy to read as it was exciting. Ben Mezrich is a highly decorated author, and Harvard graduate and he knocked this one out of the park.
The story featured in the book tells a compelling narrative ,and gives the reader a peak into the the world of business after the fall of the Soviet Union .It features a lengthy bibliography as well to support the many surreal events captured within . I had a great time reading it and found it hard to put down .I wish he he could have gone more in depth into the many ,many scenes captured in this book or even given a transcribed interview with some of these seedy characters ,however I am certain he interviewed many people for the book and would understand the reluctance from both sides to do such a thing.

United States on Jul 04, 2022

CDP's Onceagain habit of purchasing: May come back and raise or lower the stars as needed. Enjoying the read at this point. Pertenant information on the way the Soviets do business and they are still of the same frame of mind. Done with review for now.

United States on Feb 17, 2022

Neil Griffiths: Ben Mezrich’s book tells the story of the ascent of the Russian Oligarch’s through the rise and fall of Boris Berezovsky. The lions share of the book concentrates on the years leading up to 2005. This shows Berezovsky at the height of his power, as a conduit to the then-president Yeltsin, before he fell foul of Putin and was forced into exile. It shines a light on the way that business was (and probably still is) done in Russia and the system of ‘Krysha’, a form of political patrimony that first came to light in the litigation between Berezovsky and his one time friend Roman Abramovich in 2013.

Berezovsky comes across as a man who was at once powerful but also delusional in his belief that his power would allow him to survive indefinitely in a landscape where business as usual consisted of car bombings, murders in the street and political machinations that would look contrived if created for a normal thriller. He was clearly a man who revelled in being at the centre of things but he was also someone who was willing to let others do all the hard work whilst ensuring the money flowed in to him for his protection services. This arrogance was ultimately responsible for...

United Kingdom on Mar 29, 2016

W. D. Barnum: This book, although based in fact, reads more like a novel. The story of the Oligarch Boris Berezovsky starts with his already being a powerful businessman in Russia in 1994, through his rise to the stature of Oligarch and to his death, in the UK in 2013.

A sub-plot centers on the life of KGB/FSB agent Alexander Litvinenko, his links to Berezovsky and to his ultimate death in the UK in 2006 of Polonium 210 poisoning.

The basic facts of the lives of these two individuals is fairly well known – in fact, you can just check Wikipedia, if all you want are the bare facts. But, this book goes deeper and through the relating of various meetings and stories, it fleshes out the basic story and makes it come alive.

I found one proofing error in the book – on page 190, the word “stagecraft” is printed when it should have been “tradecraft” as it was referring to Litvinenko’s following basic anti-surveillance techniques, normally referred to as “tradecraft” by those in the intelligence services.

The joke told “that the Lubyanka building (former home of the KGB, and current home of the FSB) was the tallest building in Moscow, since you could see...

United States on Aug 08, 2015

Amanda Friedman: Ben Mezrich's title is ironic in that this high speed adventure story takes place in the Europe of the past decade. There is no 'far away' or 'happily ever after' element to this story. Instead this thriller takes us on a roller coaster ride that hits you deep in the pit of your stomach. It's literally gut-wrenching. I held my breath as his title character, mathematician turned entrepreneur, Boris Abramovitz Berezovsky, navigated his way through the amoral corporate board rooms, government offices, billionaires' yachts, and the luxurious homes of the super rich, in an attempt to amass, not millions, but billions of dollars. His political and financial favors are not necessarily reciprocated when poisoners spike his best friend and business partner's drink with radioactive polonium. How fitting in this new world! We then watch Berezovsky's eventual downfall as his legal case for five billion dollars in damages against his former protege (the largest civil law suit in recorded history) doesn't go the way he had planned. By the end of the book, the reader is tacitly aware that the buck always stops at the seat of power. Putin's agenda does not include the new would-be titans of world...

United States on Jun 24, 2015