In this saga of brilliant triumphs and magnificent failures, David E. Hoffman, the former Moscow bureau chief for the Washington Post, sheds light on the hidden lives of Russia’s most feared power brokers: the oligarchs. Focusing on six of these ruthless men— Alexander Smolensky, Yuri Luzhkov, Anatoly Chubais, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Boris Berezovsky, and Vladimir Gusinsky—Hoffman shows how a rapacious, unruly capitalism was born out of the ashes of Soviet communism. Praise for David E. Hoffman’s THE OLIGARCHS “In terms of sheer drama, it’s an irresistible tale, and David Hoffman’s new book . . . milks it for all it’s worth . . . Many future readers will find themselves returning to Hoffman’s book to find out what, exactly, makes Russia tick.” —Newsweek “Hoffman brilliantly shows how seemingly halting and insignificant acts finally culminated in changes in a whole society.” —Washington Post “Hoffman makes the tale of the men’s rise and fall a masterful blend of adventure and serious, informed analysis.” —Foreign Affairs “[Hoffman] offers one the most wide-ranging and sober of several recent descriptions of the oligarchs during the painful past decade of change in Russia.” —Financial Times “Engagingly written . . . the most comprehensive and most fascinating account of the new Russia to date.” —San Jose Mercury News “This sad story comes to life in David Hoffman’s sprawling new book . . . for those interested in the future of this puzzled and puzzling country, Hoffman’s book could not have come at a better time.” —Washington Monthly “Hoffman’s masterly account of this period . . . dispels any doubts that [the oligarchs] did call the shots . . . Without their efforts the Russian people would still be languishing under a hopelessly ineffective command economy. That is one view. The other is that these men were self-serving opportunists who carried out the biggest heist in history . . . It is the success of Hoffman’s compelling story that we come away convinced of both versions.” —The London Sunday Times (Listed in 100 Best Books of the Year) “Finally, a truly revelatory book about the men who remade Russia in the 1990s . . . experts will be astounded by Hoffman’s great reporting, but any curious reader will be intrigued by the stories of these men’s extraordinary lives.” —Robert G. Kaiser “David Hoffman has produced a monumental book . . . The Oligarchs may be the last book ever written on the subject since it is hard to imagine anyone else trying to replicate let alone improve upon the quality of research, analysis, and prose contained in this book.” —Michael McFaul
