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A Washington Post Best Book Of The Year
"A riveting investigation of the world's most notorious weapons dealer, Viktor Bout, whose postCold War arms network has stoked violence worldwide."
—THE WASHINGTON POST
"A page-turner that digs deep into the amazing, murky story of Viktor Bout. Farah and Braun have exposed the inner workings of one of the world's most secretive businesses—the international arms trade."
—Peter Bergen, author of The Osama bin Laden I Know
"Braun and Farah have crafted an impressive and damning dossier on this mysterious figure, a raw capitalist at work in an anarchical world."
—Mark Bowden, author of Guests of the Ayatollah
"Viktor Bout is like Osama bin Laden: a major target of U.S. intelligence officials who time and again gets away. Farah and Braun have skillfully documented how this notorious arms dealer has stoked violence around the world and thwarted international sanctions. . . . A truly impressive piece of investigative reporting."
—Michael Isikoff, coauthor of Hubris: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, and the Selling of the Iraq War
Respected journalists Douglas Farah and Stephen Braun tell the incredible story of Viktor Bout, the Russian weapons supplier whose global network has changed the way modern warfare is fought. Bout's vast enterprise of guns, planes, and money has fueled internecine slaughter in Africa and aided both militant Islamic fanatics in Afghanistan and the American military in Iraq. Combining spy thrills with crucial insights on the shortcomings of a U.S. foreign policy that fails to confront the lucrative and lethal arms trade thaterodes global security, they show how Bout has successfully skirted every attempt to undo his enterprise and flourishes, while the world's premier intelligence services have largely given up the chase.
While there's no shortage of books on international terrorism, drug cartels and genocide, the international weapons trade has received less attention. Journalists Farah and Braun center their absorbing exposé of this source of global misery on its most successful practitioner, the Russian dealer Victor Bout. Throughout the Cold War, they show, the Kremlin supplied arms to oppressive regimes and insurgent groups, keeping close tabs on customers; after the U.S.S.R. collapsed, the floodgates opened in the 1990s. With weapons factories starved for customers, Soviet-era air transports lying idle and rusting, and dictators, warlords and insurgents throughout the world clamoring for arms, entrepreneurs and organized criminals saw fortunes to be made. The authors paint a depressing picture of an avalanche of war-making material pouring into poor, violence-wracked nations despite well-publicized U.N. embargoes. America denounces this trade, but turns a blind eye if recipients proclaim they are fighting terrorism, they say. Ruthless people who shun publicity make poor biographical subjects, and Bout is no exception. The authors' energetic research reveals that rivals dislike him, colleagues admire him, enemies condemn him, and Bout describes himself as a much-maligned but honest businessman. Although an unsatisfactory portrait, the book surrounds it with an engrossing, detailed description of this wildly destructive traffic. (Aug.)
Copyright 2007 Reed Business InformationPrologue.
1. The Delivery Man.
2. Planes, Guns, and Money.
3. A Dangerous Business.
4. Continental Collapse.
5. At a Crossroads.
6. The Chase Begins.
7. The Taliban Connection.'8. Black Charters.
9. Gunships and Titanium.
10. "Get Me a Warrant".
11. Now or Never.
12. "We Are Very Limited in What We Can Do".
13. Welcome to Baghdad.
14. Blacklisted and Still Flying.
Epilogue.
Notes.
Index.
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Overview
A Washington Post Best Book Of The Year
"A riveting investigation of the world's most notorious weapons dealer, Viktor Bout, whose postCold War arms network has stoked violence worldwide."
—THE WASHINGTON POST
"A page-turner that digs deep into the amazing, murky story of Viktor Bout. Farah and Braun have exposed the inner workings of one of the world's most secretive businesses—the international arms trade."
—Peter Bergen, author of The Osama...