A gripping and shocking insight into the lives of Russias most famous oligarchs fromNew York Timesbestselling author ofThe Accidental BillionairesandBringing Down the House.

Once Upon a Time in Russiais the untold true story of the larger-than-life billionaire oligarchs who surfed the waves of privatization to reap riches after the fall of the Soviet regime: Godfather of the Kremlin Boris Berezovsky, a former mathematician whose first entrepreneurial venture was running an automobile reselling business, and Roman Abramovich, his dashing young protégé who built a multi-billion-dollar empire of oil and aluminium. Locked in a complex, uniquely Russian partnership, Berezovsky and Abramovich battled their way through the Wild East of Russia with Berezovsky acting as the younger manskrysha- literally, his roof, his protector.

Written with the heart-stopping pace of a thriller -but even more compelling because it is true - this story of amassing obscene wealth and power depicts a rarefied world seldom seen up close. Under Berezovskyskrysha, Abramovich built one of Russias largest oil companies from the ground up and in exchange made cash deliveries - including 491 million dollars in just one year. But their relationship frayed when Berezovsky attacked President Vladimir Putin in the media - and had to flee to the UK. Abramovich continued to prosper.

Dead bodies trailed Berezovskys footsteps, and threats followed him to London, where an associate of his died painfully and famously of Polonium poisoning. Then Berezovsky himself was later found dead, declared a suicide.

Exclusively sourced, capturing a momentous period in recent world history,Once Upon a Time in Russiais at once personal and political, offering an unprecedented look into the wealth, corruption, and power behind what Graydon Carter called the story of our age.