Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man's Fight for Justice
Freezing Order, the follow-up to Red Notice, is available now! “[Red Notice] does for investing in Russia and the former Soviet Union what Liar’s Poker did for our understanding of Salomon Brothers, Wall Street, and the mortgage-backed securities business in the 1980s. Browder’s business saga meshes well with the story of corruption and murder in Vladimir Putin’s Russia, making Red Notice an early candidate for any list of the year’s best books” (Fortune).
“Part John Grisham-like thriller, part business and political memoir.” —The New York Times
This is a story about an accidental activist. Bill Browder started out his adult life as the Wall Street maverick whose instincts led him to Russia just after the breakup of the Soviet Union, where he made his fortune.
Along the way he exposed corruption, and when he did, he barely escaped with his life. His Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky wasn’t so lucky: he ended up in jail, where he was tortured to death. That changed Browder forever. He saw the murderous heart of the Putin regime and has spent the last half decade on a campaign to expose it. Because of that, he became Putin’s number one enemy, especially after Browder succeeded in having a law passed in the United States—The Magnitsky Act—that punishes a list of Russians implicated in the lawyer’s murder. Putin famously retaliated with a law that bans Americans from adopting Russian orphans.
A financial caper, a crime thriller, and a political crusade, Red Notice is the story of one man taking on overpowering odds to change the world, and also the story of how, without intending to, he found meaning in his life.
“Part John Grisham-like thriller, part business and political memoir.” —The New York Times
This is a story about an accidental activist. Bill Browder started out his adult life as the Wall Street maverick whose instincts led him to Russia just after the breakup of the Soviet Union, where he made his fortune.
Along the way he exposed corruption, and when he did, he barely escaped with his life. His Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky wasn’t so lucky: he ended up in jail, where he was tortured to death. That changed Browder forever. He saw the murderous heart of the Putin regime and has spent the last half decade on a campaign to expose it. Because of that, he became Putin’s number one enemy, especially after Browder succeeded in having a law passed in the United States—The Magnitsky Act—that punishes a list of Russians implicated in the lawyer’s murder. Putin famously retaliated with a law that bans Americans from adopting Russian orphans.
A financial caper, a crime thriller, and a political crusade, Red Notice is the story of one man taking on overpowering odds to change the world, and also the story of how, without intending to, he found meaning in his life.
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Community Reviews
This book is a page turner. It gives insight into Russian financing and the recently talked about Magnitsky Act.
If this book hadn't been a selection for our book club, I doubt very highly that I would have read it due to the complicated sections on high finance and having to keep track of an ever-growing list of Russian characters. Some portions were easier to follow and very exciting, but then the book fell back into complicated discussions about hedge funds or politics or court filings. I'm glad that I'm done reading the book!
thenextgoodbook.com
Red Notice by Bill Browder
380 pages
What’s it about?
Eric Browder (Bill's grandfather) was the head of the Communist party in America. He actually ran for President of the United States as the Communist candidate in 1936 and 1940. Bill Browder differentiates himself from the rest of his family by studying business in college. He then dives headfirst into capitalism. With a Stanford MBA he begins consulting and then finds his true passion when he is posted to Poland in the early 1990's. Browder sees the financial reward of investing in emerging markets in the Eastern Bloc. Eventually Bill Browder moves to Russia and makes himself ,and his investors, a fortune- but it comes at a cost.
What did it make me think about?
Why would anyone want to do business in Russia?
Should I read it?
This was a fascinating real life account of big business Russian style. Once I started the book I was hooked. So interesting on so many levels- especially as we now see Russia utilizing these same strong arm tactics in world politics. If you have any interest in how Putin operates this story will be illuminating.
Quote-
"This whole exercise was teaching me that Russian business culture is closer to that of a prison yard than anything else. "
"Because of this, he didn't realize that Russia had no rule of law, it had a rule of men.
And those men were crooks."
Red Notice by Bill Browder
380 pages
What’s it about?
Eric Browder (Bill's grandfather) was the head of the Communist party in America. He actually ran for President of the United States as the Communist candidate in 1936 and 1940. Bill Browder differentiates himself from the rest of his family by studying business in college. He then dives headfirst into capitalism. With a Stanford MBA he begins consulting and then finds his true passion when he is posted to Poland in the early 1990's. Browder sees the financial reward of investing in emerging markets in the Eastern Bloc. Eventually Bill Browder moves to Russia and makes himself ,and his investors, a fortune- but it comes at a cost.
What did it make me think about?
Why would anyone want to do business in Russia?
Should I read it?
This was a fascinating real life account of big business Russian style. Once I started the book I was hooked. So interesting on so many levels- especially as we now see Russia utilizing these same strong arm tactics in world politics. If you have any interest in how Putin operates this story will be illuminating.
Quote-
"This whole exercise was teaching me that Russian business culture is closer to that of a prison yard than anything else. "
"Because of this, he didn't realize that Russia had no rule of law, it had a rule of men.
And those men were crooks."
Really loved the first half but the second half dragged a bit. It seemed like there were different authors on the two halves. Both had lots of detail and a fabulous story. The second half just want written in a way that drew me in as much. An unbelievable true story though that was very good.
"Unlike many other Westerners in Moscow, I had never studied Russian literature, trained as a spy, or done anything useful to prepare for life in Russia. "
An interesting, albeit sometimes dry, story about an ordinary American who pushed for international justice after the suspicious death of a colleage falsly imprisoned in Russia for tax fraud.
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