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Prequel to [b:Freezing Order: A True Story of Money Laundering, Murder, and Surviving Vladimir Putin's Wrath|59366154|Freezing Order A True Story of Money Laundering, Murder, and Surviving Vladimir Putin's Wrath|Bill Browder|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1649605131l/59366154._SY75_.jpg|93538849] (2022)
Review of the Simon & Schuster hardcover edition (February, 2015)
I'll confess that when Red Notice first appeared in early 2015, the related news of Magnitsky Legislation was then such a current topic in Canada that I felt like I already knew everything about it.
It was after being impressed by Browder's writing in Freezing Order (2022), that I decided I had to read the earlier book as well. I was just as impressed with it. Whether Browder has and had the assistance of a ghostwriter or whether he has simply studied the various tropes and techniques of suspense & thriller writing, he masterfully constructs a story of the rise and the downfall of his idealized plans for investment in Russia's future in the post-Soviet Communist era.
Again, Browder starts off with a in medias res vignette: his deportation from Russia in 2007. Only then does he go into the 15 or so years of backstory of how he began his Hermitage Investment Group after first becoming aware of the possibilities of investment growth in the former countries of the Soviet Bloc. Despite early warning signs (see the 1997 anecdote above), he and his staff persisted in exposing Russian attempts to defraud his investors through the legal system. At one time it even seemed as if his goals were aligned with those of the dictator Vladimir Putin, who gleefully joined in with pursuing the prosecution of oligarchs. It of course finally became clear that Putin was doing this only for his own ends and enrichment.
Despite Browder's liquidating his Russian assets and assisting most of his staff to leave the country, several of his Russian lawyers refused to leave their homeland and had faith that justice and the legal system would win in the end. Tragically, Sergei Magnitsky (1972-2009) was framed in a tax evasion scheme and met his death under torture in a Russian prison. The corruption and injustice of the previous Russian Communist state was revealed to still be there and was as vicious as ever.
Red Notice tells the story of how this initiated Browder's worldwide campaign to obtain justice for Sergei Magnitsky and other victims of totalitarian kleptocracies by promoting the creation of legislation to sanction the profiteers of injustice. The story continues in the present day.
Review of the Simon & Schuster hardcover edition (February, 2015)
It didn't make any financial sense.
Then I remembered why he would do this: because it is the Russian thing to do.
There’s a famous Russian proverb about this type of behavior. One day, a poor villager happens upon a magic talking fish that is ready to grant him a single wish. Overjoyed, the villager weighs his options: “Maybe a castle? Or even better—a thousand bars of gold? Why not a ship to sail the world?” As the villager is about to make his decision, the fish interrupts him to say that there is one important caveat: whatever the villager gets, his neighbor will receive two of the same. Without skipping a beat, the villager says, “In that case, please poke one of my eyes out.”
The moral is simple - when it comes to money, Russians will gladly - gleefully, even - sacrifice their own success to screw their neighbour. - Bill Browder relating an anecdote from late 1997 about one of his early experiences with investments in Russia, excerpted from Red Notice
I'll confess that when Red Notice first appeared in early 2015, the related news of Magnitsky Legislation was then such a current topic in Canada that I felt like I already knew everything about it.
It was after being impressed by Browder's writing in Freezing Order (2022), that I decided I had to read the earlier book as well. I was just as impressed with it. Whether Browder has and had the assistance of a ghostwriter or whether he has simply studied the various tropes and techniques of suspense & thriller writing, he masterfully constructs a story of the rise and the downfall of his idealized plans for investment in Russia's future in the post-Soviet Communist era.
Again, Browder starts off with a in medias res vignette: his deportation from Russia in 2007. Only then does he go into the 15 or so years of backstory of how he began his Hermitage Investment Group after first becoming aware of the possibilities of investment growth in the former countries of the Soviet Bloc. Despite early warning signs (see the 1997 anecdote above), he and his staff persisted in exposing Russian attempts to defraud his investors through the legal system. At one time it even seemed as if his goals were aligned with those of the dictator Vladimir Putin, who gleefully joined in with pursuing the prosecution of oligarchs. It of course finally became clear that Putin was doing this only for his own ends and enrichment.
Despite Browder's liquidating his Russian assets and assisting most of his staff to leave the country, several of his Russian lawyers refused to leave their homeland and had faith that justice and the legal system would win in the end. Tragically, Sergei Magnitsky (1972-2009) was framed in a tax evasion scheme and met his death under torture in a Russian prison. The corruption and injustice of the previous Russian Communist state was revealed to still be there and was as vicious as ever.
Red Notice tells the story of how this initiated Browder's worldwide campaign to obtain justice for Sergei Magnitsky and other victims of totalitarian kleptocracies by promoting the creation of legislation to sanction the profiteers of injustice. The story continues in the present day.