Description

A BOOK OF THE YEAR IN:

THE TIMES * SUNDAY TIMES * ECONOMIST
DAILY MAIL * DAILY MIRROR * NEW YORKER * SPECTATOR
PROSPECT * WATERSTONES * IRISH TIMES

LONGLISTED FOR THE FINANCIAL TIMES BUSINESS BOOK OF THE YEAR 2022

PRESENTER OF THE BBC RADIO 4 SERIES ‘HOW TO STEAL A TRILLION’

‘Brilliant’
Marina Hyde, Guardian

‘A savage analysis of Britain’s soul. As essential as Orwell at his best’
Peter Pomerantsev

‘Horribly brilliant’
James O’Brien

How did Britain become the servant of the world’s most powerful and corrupt men?

From accepting multi-million pound tips from Russian oligarchs, to enabling Gibraltar to become an offshore gambling haven, meet Butler Britain…

The Suez Crisis of 1956 was Britain’s twentieth-century nadir, the moment when the once superpower was bullied into retreat. In the immortal words of former US Secretary of State Dean Acheson, ‘Britain has lost an empire and not yet found a role.’ But the funny thing was, Britain had already found a role. It even had the costume. The leaders of the world just hadn’t noticed it yet.

Butler to the World reveals how the UK took up its position at the elbow of the worst people on Earth: the oligarchs, kleptocrats and gangsters. We pride ourselves on values of fair play and the rule of law, but few countries do more to frustrate global anti-corruption efforts. We are now a nation of Jeeveses, snobbish enablers for rich halfwits of considerably less charm than Bertie Wooster. It doesn’t have to be that way.

Publisher Review

Brilliant -- Marina Hyde * Guardian * Urgent and essential reading. From grasping bankers to opportunistic lawyers and feckless MPs, unable and unwilling to withstand the schemes of the global rich, Oliver Bullough has drilled down to the root of the malaise that's rotting the UK system. Beautifully written with quiet despairing humour, this is the defining story of our times -- Catherine Belton * Putin's People * Not only a witty and well researched economic history of Britain's role as financial Butler to the world, this is also a savage analysis of Britain's soul. As essential as Orwell at his best -- Peter Pomerantsev * This Is Not Propaganda * If like me you've ever wondered what all those university graduate schemes were ultimately about, Bullough outlines it here... Timely and revealing -- Lucy Prebble, writer and executive producer * Succession * Riveting from cover to cover; a jaw-dropping and damning account that will make you sit up and re-evaluate what you think about the City, the UK and global finance -- Peter Frankopan, author * The Silk Roads * A horribly brilliant account of just how much historical integrity Britain has sacrificed at the altar of dirty money. Bullough is a compelling and expert guide to the newly-dug sewers flowing through the heart of our political, legal and financial establishment -- James O'Brien, author * How Not to be Wrong * Terrific ... pulled by a current of Tory indolence, Britain flounders in a sea of dirty money -- Nick Cohen * Observer * Highly readable... deserve[s] praise for going beyond moralising and pointing out how an industry geared to enabling the corrupt is not just unsavoury but can hurt a country's real economic prospects' -- Martin Sandbu * FT * This is an absolute must-read for everyone who wants to understand Britain's crucial role in the global dirty money crisis. British institutions, our laws, our people and our failure to police effectively means - as Bullough demonstrates - that we are the servants to kleptocrats, money launderers and serious criminals. With the brilliant concept of Britain as the butler, Bullough lifts the lid and explains in a very clear and intelligible way why and how Britain is facilitating illicit finance across the world. The narrative is gripping, the analysis original and powerful and the detailed examples terrifying. This book will provide a powerful contribution to the important debate on the UK and dirty money -- Margaret Hodge, MP and chair of the Public Accounts Committee Oliver Bullough unsparingly reveals the devastating facts behind Britain's dirty financial secrets and moral guilt while directly challenging the UK to clean up its act. This book is a must-read for those who care about our reputation in the world today -- Andrew Mitchell MP, former British international development minister Anyone who cares about the future of this country should read this sizzlingly written and incendiary story of our national decline. For more than 60 years our financial system has been corroded by greed - and has in turn corrupted our politics. This book blows apart Britain's image for gentlemanly respectability and lays bare the real picture: ruthless greed disguised by hypocrisy, and tolerated because of wilful ignorance -- Edward Lucas, author * The New Cold War: How the Kremlin Menaces Both Russia and the West * The shocking revelation of how the old heart of an unscrupulous empire turned into a fawning servant to the global super-rich. The sooner more people realise this, the better -- Danny Dorling, author * Rule Britannia * Praise for Moneyland: Eye-opening and essential ... Bullough has provided a model for how to tell a gripping and comprehensible story about a complex and crucial subject. You cannot understand power, wealth and poverty without knowing about Moneyland. -- Simon Kuper * New Statesman * There are few people who know the world of illicit finance and money laundering like Oliver Bullough. He takes us on a journey through the maze of complicity and criminality that will upend all your confidence in the institutions that should be protecting us. -- Bill Browder, author * Red Notice: How I became Putin's No. 1 Enemy * Jaw-dropping and deeply unsettling. Oliver Bullough provides a sobering and brilliant account of how piracy on an epic-scale is alive and well in the 21st century. A must-read. Simple as that -- Peter Frankopan, author of * The Silk Roads * If you want to know why international crooks and their eminently respectable financial advisors walk tall and only the little people pay taxes, this is the ideal book for you. Every politician and moneyman on the planet should read it, but they won't because it's actually about them. -- John le Carre, author of * A Legacy of Spies * Corruption undermines democracy, weakens institutions and erodes trust, it destroys lives and impoverishes millions. Moneyland starts from that truth and tells London's part of that story ... This important book shows clearly that foreign policy isn't about foreigners, it's about us. -- Tom Tugendhat, Chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee This is meticulously researched and engagingly told, and reveals the horror and scale of dirty money flowing around the world. The central role played by the UK and jurisdictions associated with the British family mean that every person concerned about corruption and fairness in the UK should read this book - and then campaign and act. -- Margaret Hodge, MP Unputdownable. Funny, tragic and explains the world. I hope it helps change it, too -- Peter Pomerantsev, author of * Nothing Is True and Everything is Possible * A great guide to a country you can't afford to visit but which is all around you. -- Richard Brooks, author of * Bean Counters *