The Oligarchs: Wealth and Power in the New Russia Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

David Hoffman (Author), Steve Coulter (Narrator), Audible Studios (Publisher)

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A brilliant investigative narrative: How six average Soviet men rose to the pinnacle of Russia's battered economy. David Hoffman, former Moscow bureau chief for The Washington Post, sheds light onto the hidden lives of Russia's most feared power brokers: the oligarchs. Focusing on six of these ruthless men Hoffman reveals how a few players managed to take over Russia's cash-strapped economy and then divvy it up in loans-for-shares deals. Before perestroika, these men were normal Soviet citizens, stuck in a dead-end system, claustrophobic apartments, and long bread lines. But as Communism loosened, they found gaps in the economy and reaped huge fortunes by getting their hands on fast money. They were entrepreneurs. As the government weakened and their businesses flourished, they grew greedier. Now the stakes were higher. The state was auctioning off its own assets to the highest bidder.

The tycoons go on wild borrowing sprees, taking billions of dollars from gullible western lenders. Meanwhile, Russia is building up a debt bomb. When the ruble finally collapses and Russia defaults, the tycoons try to save themselves by hiding their assets and running for cover. They turn against one another as each one faces a stark choice - annihilate or be annihilated. The story of the old Russia was spies, dissidents, and missiles. This is the new Russia, where civil society and the rule of law have little or no meaning.

Listening Length

22 hours and 50 minutes
Author

David Hoffman
Narrator

Steve Coulter
Audible release date

Feb. 17 2014
Language

English
Publisher

Audible Studios
ASIN

B071Z5C7M5
Version

Unabridged
Program Type

Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length	22 hours and 50 minutes
Author	David Hoffman
Narrator	Steve Coulter
Audible.ca Release Date	February 17 2014
Publisher	Audible Studios
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B071Z5C7M5
Best Sellers Rank	#38,808 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) #98 in Russian History (Audible Books & Originals) #103 in Government Management #131 in Free Enterprise (Books)

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5

177 global ratings

5 star		64%
4 star		22%
3 star		12%
2 star 0% (0%)		0%
1 star		3%

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Top reviews from Canada

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Warren

A good insight into Russia and written like a novel

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on April 6, 2017

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A good insight into Russia and written like a novel. The story of money, power, corruption, murder, Oligarchs, Politicians and Mobsters. Hollywood would have a hard time making a story like this up. It would not be believable. I did not want to put the book down.

One person found this helpful

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William Sharp

Review of online book purchased through Amazon.

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on December 24, 2017

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The online book was received promptly. I have it on my IPad and am part way through reading it. I will buy more online books through Amazon.

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Ze German

Fascinating!

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on March 8, 2015

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Highly interesting, very entertaining. First third is a bit slow but necessary to introduce the characters. Must read for anyone interested in Russian politics and contemporary Russian history.

One person found this helpful

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Amsterk

Incredibly Informative

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on January 7, 2014

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One of the most comprehensive pieces written to date and available to the public on a topic still shrouded in mystery and the unknown.

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Seth J. Frantzman

A wonderful review of the Oligarchs

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on January 26, 2004

The Oligarchs of Russia are a special breed and this excellent book brings them to light. Hoffman excellently details the various men who came tot he fore in the New Russia under Yeltsin. From Mayor Luzhkov to Gusinky, Khordorovsky and Berezovky among others this book paints a wonderful picture of the hustlers, gangsters, politicians and Bankers that recreated Russia in the 1990s, making it mirror more 1920s America then the past soviet empire. This wonderful account details the back story of the various super-rich who came to dominate Russian Industry from Yukos to Aeroflot and the Russian Central Bank, from oil to automobiles. These men started poor, many were of Jewish ancestry and subjected to the prying eyes of the vast soviet bureaucracy. In one oligarchs case he started out selling Bibles on the black market and another pioneered the building of Dacha's over and above his quota for production. A wonderful tale about the horrors of communism, for instance the story of Russia's disgusting massive warehouse for vegetables, and the story of the cowboy capitalists, most of whom are now in prison or under indictment and forced to flee abroad.
Seth J. Frantzman

One person found this helpful

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Cheryl-Ann Tan

The Power of Six

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on April 28, 2002

David Hoffman's "The Oligarchs" documents in great detail the rise of 6 businessmen--Aleksandr Smolensky, Yuri Luzhkov, anatoly Chubais, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Boris Berezovsky and Vladimir Gusinsky--who became the "oligarchs" who shaped the political and economic landscape of the New Russia. They were merely ordinary Russians until the Soviet Union collapsed. So how did a mere handful Russians end up controlling such an epic proportion of Russia's economy and have such great influence in its politics? And how did they manage to rise at Russia's decline? Hoffman's book will answer these questions by piecing together extensive research and interview to create a well-balanced, serious but at the same time, a downright fun and readable book. "The Oligarchs" is a landmark.

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Top reviews from other countries

MissingButton

Monotonous

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 29, 2018

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Enjoyed the first few chapters. A chapter is dedicated to the history of each Oligarch and how they made their vast fortunes in the early days before and shortly after the collapse of the Soviet system. Each of them was a cowboy who could manipulate the system to get huge wealth. Eachndid it in his own sector or industry.

But then after 7 or 8 chapters, each one detailing a particular Oligarch, it just became monotonous. I guess I expected more detail on their current wealthy life-styles?......
so I hate to admit it, but I abandoned the book half-way through. Life is too short, and there are too many really good books to be read, to bother struggling through books that no longer give pleasure or inspiration.
I think the author did lots of good research. It’s well written. But the monotony of a chapter of how each Oligarch made his wealth began to read like a text book. I do think the author explained at the beginning that this is how he would approach the topic, and promised that the later chapters would move onto another approach. But to be honest, I couldn’t be bothered. Have moved on to another book........

2 people found this helpful

Mash

An excellent remedy for 'Putin fatigue'.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 27, 2015

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What a wonderful, wonderful book! The book is written in a refreshing here's-a-bunch-of-stuff-that-happened style. By that I mean that the author just sets out (albeit from a Western worldview) key events from 1990s Russia rather than pushing any particular agenda like seemingly every other book on modern Russia. Nobody comes out of this book looking good. The author masterfully guides you through the chaos, drawing on accounts from an unparalleled list of interviewees that reads like a who's who of the key players in 1990s Russia. And it gets better! Putin barely gets a look-in, appearing only in the last few pages. In our Putin-saturated times, this is a welcome change.

3 people found this helpful

Siriam

Brilliant synopsis of what happend and why it all went wrong

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on December 11, 2003

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Hoffman as the Moscow based chief for a US newpaper and Russian speaker was ideally placed as the events covered by this book occurred. Starting from the Fall of communism and the rise of a new business power elite the like of which Russia had never seen since 1917 through Yeltsin's faltering reign due to his health, to the change to Putin is over the 500 odd pages covered with a masterful handling of an incredible range of material and evidence. Hoffman gives a great feel of what set apart both the central characters from their different origins to their rises (and in most cases falls) from power with spectacular fortunes and egos being accumulated along the way. One of the real surprises and pleasures in the story is how he does not just focus on the new business magnates but other key economists and officials such as the Mayor of Moscow in showing how a very Russian model sought to break from its past and work to avoid a resurgence of communism as a free economy was forged.
The real strength of the book is a conveying of how it actually felt in Russia at that time (the abuses and the corruption); the simple but major errors made (such as the refusal to see the rouble was heading for a dramatic devaluation) and the government's (both centrally and via different agencies and state banks) naivete in letting a small elite continually profit at the expense of the majority.
While the book is rapidly being taken over by recent events under Putin with the recent imprisonment in 2003 of Khodorovsky who was one of the few survivors by the end of this book, hopefully the writer will attempt a sequel in bringing this masterpiece fully up to date.

10 people found this helpful

Diane Byett

Great insight into the Oligarchs

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 23, 2019

Verified Purchase

Fascinating profiles of the Oligarchs who made it through the USSR's turbulent times.

Beverley

Excellent but not a quick read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on July 13, 2018

Verified Purchase

Very detailed and well-researched. Excellent but not a quick read.

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The Oligarchs: Wealth and Power in the New Russia Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

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