Hailed as "the most dramatic and comprehensive account" of the early years of Russian capitalism (New York Times Book Review)

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 cunning and ruthless men--Alexander Smolensky, Yuri Luzhkov, Anatoly Chubais, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Boris Berezovsky, and Vladimir Gusinsky--Hoffman reveals how a few players rose to the pinnacle of Russia's new capitalism.

The oligarchs started small. Before perestroika, they lived the lives of Soviet citizens, stuck in a dead-end system, cramped apartments, and long bread lines. But as Communism loosened, they found gaps in the economy and reaped their first fortunes by getting their hands on fast money. As the government weakened and their businesses flourished, they grew greedier. The state auctioned off its own assets, and they grabbed the biggest oil companies, mines, and factories. They went on wild borrowing sprees, taking billions of dollars from gullible western lenders. When the ruble collapsed, the tycoons saved themselves by hiding their assets and running for cover. This is a saga of brilliant triumphs and magnificent failures, the untold story of how a rapacious, unruly capitalism was born out of the ashes of Soviet communism.

戴維•霍夫曼（David E. Hoffman），美國作傢、記者。1982年加入《華盛頓郵報》，在裏根及老布什的任期內報道白宮新聞，包括美蘇首腦峰會；隨後負責國外新聞，1992年齣任耶路撒冷記者站站長；於牛津大學學習俄語後派駐俄羅斯，1995年至2001年間齣任《華盛頓郵報》莫斯科記者站站長；現為《華盛頓郵報》特約編輯。

2002年齣版第一本書《寡頭：新俄羅斯的財富與權力》，被譽為終結這一主題的裏程碑之作；2010年齣版的《死亡之手：超級大國冷戰軍備競賽及蘇聯解體後的核生化武器失控危局》獲美國普利策非虛構作品奬。