Godfather of the Kremlin
by Paul Klebnikov
Book Read on 8 / 11 / 2004
Interesting book. It is about the rise of capitalism during the Russia post-Communism. Mostly a study of one guy, Berezovsky, and how he bankrupted Russia, it was also a treatise on how to launder money, how to take over a company by taking over it's profit, how to kill the competition and how fucked up Russia is. And it is really fucked up. It certainly makes you not want to visit anytime soon. Also, Putin and Yukos, which have been in the news today and how he isn't exactly a saint. One of the most interesting parts is about the Chechens. The book describes how they are basically gangsters and the dodgy shit that they are into. And then it presupposes that the Russian government financed both the war and the terrorism that accompanied it as a means of helping Putin to win the election. There is circumstantial evidence linking Berezovsky to the kidnappings (sometimes nasty) of foreigners in Chechnya and the bombings of the Moscow apartment buildings. The Chechens also seem to be a group of people operating like North Korea. It is all about drugs and mobsterism with those guys. The author, after publishing this book, was killed by the Chechens.
Reviewer: William Koplitz
3 out of 5