History's Greatest Heist: The Looting of Russia by the Bolsheviks (Hardcover)

~ Mr. Sean McMeekin (Author) "IN THE MID-1990s, a series of sensational reports appeared on the subject of looted Nazi gold laundered in Switzerland during the Second World War..." (more)
Key Phrases: war communism, tsarist rubles, gold blockade, Lloyd George, Red Army, Soviet Russia (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From The New Yorker

After the October Revolution, the Bolsheviks were enmeshed in a civil war and desperate for funds for everything from guns and boots for soldiers to a luxury car for Lenin. In theory, they had at their disposal the riches of the deposed Tsar, including one of the world�s great reserves of gold. But the gold was the security for Russia�s national debt, and most of Europe didn�t recognize the new regime or its right to the treasury anyway; in today�s terms, it was a rogue state under heavy sanctions whose assets were effectively frozen. What followed, McMeekin writes, was a �gold-laundering boom,� involving art-thieving commissars, double-dealing smugglers, and a surprisingly nefarious cast of Swedes. The Bolsheviks put teams to work prying pearls from centuries-old icons, cracked open private safe-deposit boxes, and even stripped a necklace from Catherine the Great�s tomb. McMeekin�s outrage about the crimes occasionally overgilds a good and relevant story, but, given the economic and cultural cost to the Russian people, it is understandable.
Copyright ©2008 Click here to subscribe to The New Yorker

Product Description

Historians have never resolved a central mystery of the Russian Revolution: How did the Bolsheviks, despite facing a world of enemies and leaving nothing but economic ruin in their path, manage to stay in power through five long years of civil war?  In this penetrating book, Sean McMeekin draws on previously undiscovered materials from the Soviet Ministry of Finance and other European and American archives to expose some of the darkest secrets of Russia’s early days of communism. Building on one archival revelation after another, the author reveals how the Bolsheviks financed their aggression through astonishingly extensive thievery. Their looting included everything from the cash savings of private citizens to gold, silver, diamonds, jewelry, icons, antiques, and artwork.

 

By tracking illicit Soviet financial transactions across Europe, McMeekin shows how Lenin’s regime accomplished history’s greatest heist between 1917 and 1922 and turned centuries of accumulated wealth into the sinews of class war. McMeekin also names names, introducing for the first time the compliant bankers, lawyers, and middlemen who, for a price, helped the Bolsheviks launder their loot, impoverish Russia, and impose their brutal will on millions.

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Product Details Hardcover: 336 pages Publisher: Yale University Press (December 16, 2008) Language: English ISBN-10: 0300135580 ISBN-13: 978-0300135589 Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies) Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews) Amazon.com Sales Rank: #435,686 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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First Sentence:
IN THE MID-1990s, a series of sensational reports appeared on the subject of looted Nazi gold laundered in Switzerland during the Second World War. Read the first page

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
war communism, tsarist rubles, gold blockade, imperial gold reserves, looting campaign, million gold rubles, bank strike, church robberies, church valuables, paper rubles, trade accord, ooo rubles, import credits, gold movements, photo envelope, million rubles

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Lloyd George, Red Army, Soviet Russia, The Heist, Foreign Office, State Bank, Max Laserson, Olof Aschberg, October Revolution, Stanford University, Russian Revolution, Hoover Institution Archives, The People, New York, Nikolai Krestinsky, Patriarch Tikhon, Provisional Government, Great Britain, Leonid Krasin, San Remo, Orthodox Church, Standard Oil, United States, Rapallo Treaty, Red Guards

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3 Reviews 5 star:  (3) 4 star:    (0) 3 star:    (0) 2 star:    (0) 1 star:    (0)           Average Customer Review 5.0 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews 4 of 7 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars The looting of Russia by the Bolshevics., February 8, 2009 By  emelya4u "Emelya" (USA) - See all my reviews The results of this researcher's investigation has been long known to most in Russia, but not in the West. Too bad this is not going to enter the textbooks in those same countries and overturn the dominant mythology that the Bolsheviks, i.e. the murderers of the Russian empire, have been good for Russia. My fear is that this author's work will be dismissed in some way, and this will remain the only work in this field...but kudos for the author. 3 of 6 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent service; excellent read., February 8, 2009 By  Jimmy Porter (Dubois, Wy USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    Amazon Verified Purchase The author has researched and written a book that covers the gap between the Tsarist downfall through to the downfall of Bolshevik rebels. The rape of the culture of Old Russia will make you sick when you see how the gold, jewels. paintings and religious objects are stolen by these "friends of the People," what they do with it, and how it turns out. It made me very sorrowful and revengeful for the actions of these robbers. It also points out what a lax citizenship will allow a small band of violent and active rebels, including destroying your country, your culture, your person. This was a well written book, placing some of the then current world leaders at the same greedy trough as the Russian rapists, The Bolsheviks! 0 of 3 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating and engrossing..., June 23, 2009 By  jenna randolph (USA) - See all my reviews So many interesting books are now being written about Russia. The "collapse" of the Soviet Union sounds less and less like that---and more like a great peoples getting their lives back in order. I always believed the total "people's revolution" stuff---and became interested since I had to read Karl Marx in American schools (but we were told it was a capitalist country, despite what they now call "mixed economy). Still, I just wondered why--and started reading. Boy, it wasn't really a "people's revolution," but we were taught Lenin 'ended civil war," and so on. I think there will be such great things for Russia in the future, and its side of the story is slowly, slowly being told. There are many who are fascinated to hear it!		Ad feedback   Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (December 16, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300135580
• ISBN-13: 978-0300135589
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #435,686 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The looting of Russia by the Bolshevics., February 8, 2009

By	emelya4u "Emelya" (USA) - See all my reviews

The results of this researcher's investigation has been long known to most in Russia, but not in the West.
Too bad this is not going to enter the textbooks in those same countries and overturn the dominant mythology that the Bolsheviks, i.e. the murderers of the Russian empire, have been good for Russia.
My fear is that this author's work will be dismissed in some way, and this will remain the only work in this field...but kudos for the author.

3 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent service; excellent read., February 8, 2009

By	Jimmy Porter (Dubois, Wy USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

The author has researched and written a book that covers the gap between the Tsarist downfall through to the downfall of Bolshevik rebels. The rape of the culture of Old Russia will make you sick when you see how the gold, jewels. paintings and religious objects are stolen by these "friends of the People," what they do with it, and how it turns out. It made me very sorrowful and revengeful for the actions of these robbers. It also points out what a lax citizenship will allow a small band of violent and active rebels, including destroying your country, your culture, your person. This was a well written book, placing some of the then current world leaders at the same greedy trough as the Russian rapists, The Bolsheviks!

0 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating and engrossing..., June 23, 2009

By	jenna randolph (USA) - See all my reviews

So many interesting books are now being written about Russia. The "collapse" of the Soviet Union sounds less and less like that---and more like a great peoples getting their lives back in order. I always believed the total "people's revolution" stuff---and became interested since I had to read Karl Marx in American schools (but we were told it was a capitalist country, despite what they now call "mixed economy). Still, I just wondered why--and started reading. Boy, it wasn't really a "people's revolution," but we were taught Lenin 'ended civil war," and so on. I think there will be such great things for Russia in the future, and its side of the story is slowly, slowly being told. There are many who are fascinated to hear it!