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Title: Godfather of the Kremlin: The Decline of Russia in the Age of Gangster Capitalism by Paul Klebnikov ISBN: 0-15-601330-4 Publisher: Harvest Books Pub. Date: September, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 2.76 (33 reviews)
Rating: 2
Summary: Blaming Berezovky
Comment: I admit to skimming the second half of this book. If there is a story here, I couldn't follow it because of all the blind alleys it went into while trying to pin all of Russia's current follies onto a single individual. This central thesis simply isn't credible. Russia is a large, complex, and easily misunderstood country, with a long history of unscrupulous characters vying for its assets, from its serfs to its natural gas monopoly. The "Oligarchs" are only the most recent incarnation of this tendancy, but at least they have had a positive effect: More democratisation, a burgoning open media infrastructure, and the rise of power center outside of Russia's bureaucracy. Had the author spent a little more time researching Russian history and the current economic situation, he would have had a better story to tell. Not that this book is entirely without merit. It has a couple of extreme anecdote about the Russian "mafia" that could have been taken right out of the New York Post. However, the author seemed more intent concentrating all of Russia's ills onto a single individual, which is simply not realisic.
Rating: 1
Summary: This is a cheap tabloid-style pamflet, not a serious study
Comment: I read this book, initially with some interest, but its style would put everyone off who is interested in exploring the real recent events in post-communist Russia. Any serious researcher would first present the facts, then analyse them and use this analysis to draw conclusions. Paul Klebnikov however chooses a diferent path: present his views on Berezovski, on businesmen and politicians, on Russian reforms, and then use facts (or information about the facts drawn from various sources) to illustrate his views. Clearly this way every event is interpreted in the way that proves author's point of view, but the reader may not be so convinced...
Most reviewers try to judge this book by whether the description of facts in the book is true or false. This is an interesting question, but a pointless one, since, first, we have no way of knowing, and secondly, because out of thousands of events some are bound to be described accurately while others ought to be false.
Rather, we should judge this book by what we can draw from the text itself.
This book has to be read (if at all) in the context of the political struggle in Russia, in which it is common (as elsewhere) for one political or business group to use various publications in their fight against other groups. This book is clearly written to smear Berezovsky, other business figures as well as reformist Russian politicians. It is also easy to understand who could be the sponsor of such a book. Most characters in the book are described as looters, crooks, and liers, so it looks strange that there are some figures whose every word is presented as ultimate truth. Most of these figures are associated with the disgraced old Soviet regime, and specifically with Criminal Police or the KGB. The book says that the Criminal Police, the Militia was unable to fight crime effectively because it was poorly equipped, lacked resources and was obstructed by high officials. No word that this institution was corrupt from top to bottom even before Perestroyka (to the point that the deputy head of the interior ministry and Leonid Brezhnev's son-in law was jailed by Yuri Andropov - a rare event in Soviet history). Recent arrests of top police officers in Moscow show to everyone that this institution has become even more corrupt in recent years, so its 'sources' lacks any credibility.
Other information in the book is based on the interviews with "sources" from Soviet notorious secret police, the KGB and its successor, FSB. All people associated with this legendary organisation are described in positive terms. One of its generals, head of Boris Yeltsin's presidential guard, Korzhakov, is quoted so frequently, that the reader gets an impression that he should have been made the co-author. Given the notoriety this general demonstrated during early nineties, the reader will be well advised not to believe his accounts.
In a recent libel case heard in London, the employer of Klebnikov, the Forbes magazine, officially admitted that his allegations that Berezovsky was responsible for murders of various Russian figures (such a Vlad Listiev) were baseless. One wonders why Forbes still employs this guy. One article written by Klebnikov must have cost Forbes a fortune both in legal fees and reputation...
My view is that this book contains a lot of interesting information about recent Russian history, but its account of this history is substantially distorted and biased. For readers unfamiliar with recent events in Russian this book will be misleading. I don't recommend anyone but specialists to buy it.
Rating: 1
Summary: A poorly researched tale
Comment: This book is a joke.
For evidence of how poorly researched this book is, simply GOOGLE the authors name and title of the book and you will find a copy of the London Court's libel judgement against the author and various gripes from the authors "footnoted" interviewees who claim they were misquoted or that quotes were simply made up. One American Moscow correspondent even claims in his paper that the author used strong anti-semitic slurs when discussing Berezovsky.
If the publishers want to stick by their author, that's fine, but the public record and the English libel verdict as to this books accuracy is clear for all to see. Use Google.
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Title: Comrade Criminal: Russia's New Mafiya by Stephen Handelman ISBN: 0300063865 Publisher: Yale Univ Pr Pub. Date: April, 1997 List Price(USD): $16.22 |
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Title: The Piratization of Russia: Russian Reform Goes Awry by Marshall I. Goldman ISBN: 0415315298 Publisher: Routledge Pub. Date: 10 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
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Title: The Oligarchs: Wealth & Power in the New Russia by David E. Hoffman, David Hoffman ISBN: 1586480014 Publisher: PublicAffairs Pub. Date: 19 February, 2002 List Price(USD): $30.00 |
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Title: Red Mafiya : How the Russian Mob Has Invaded America by Robert I. Friedman ISBN: 0316294748 Publisher: Little Brown & Company Pub. Date: 01 May, 2000 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
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Title: The Oligarchs: Wealth and Power in the New Russia by David E. Hoffman ISBN: 1586482025 Publisher: PublicAffairs Pub. Date: 23 December, 2003 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
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