I. David Rosenstein's Blog: Focus on Non-Fiction

Book Review: Black Edge: Inside Information, Dirty Money and the Quest to Bring Down the Most Wanted Man on Wall Street

Crime Pays - if You Have Enough Well Paid Lawyers

Black Edge: Inside Information, Dirty Money, and the Quest to Bring Down the Most Wanted Man on Wall Street, by Sheelah Kolhatkar, is the story of how Federal authorities tried to convict Steve Cohen, head of the SAC Capital hedge fund, on charges of insider trading.

The story of the authorities’ investigation and their efforts to obtain incriminating evidence against Cohen reads like a thriller. Some readers might be disappointed that the investigation did not end in a conviction. But the ending is never really in doubt. Anyone with experience in the corporate or legal world would have a pretty good idea that Cohen, with his unlimited funds, was going to be able to out-lawyer the Government.

Notwithstanding the absence of a satisfying ending I found that the story operated well as a description of how an evil criminal can pull off a perfect crime. Kolhatkar describes in detail how Cohen profited off of the insider information obtained by his associates while maintaining plausible deniability regarding his own knowledge of their sources. And she makes Cohen look even more evil as he goes about his life while his associates’ lives are ruined because of their participation in the scheme.

This is a very well researched and readable book that explains how hedge funds really operate and what traders do to earn their exorbitant salaries. It captured my attention and I read it over just a few days. I give it 4 stars and strongly recommend it especially for those who are attempting to make a few dollars in the stock market without cheating.

Book Review: Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder and One Man's Fight for Justice

Aggressive Investing in a Corrupt Environment Leads to a Tragic Outcome

In Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder and One Man’s Fight for Justice author Bill Browder describes his experience running Heritage Capital Management, a Hedge Fund that he created to invest in Russian assets. Browder explains how he capitalized on inefficiencies in the Russian markets to build Heritage Capital into the largest foreign investor in Russia. And he explains how he protected the fund’s investments by exposing corruption in the companies in which it was invested.

But Browder’s efforts to push back on corruption created enemies in high places in Russia. He found that one or more of the Funds’ companies was being stolen, that he was being accused of tax evasion and that his safety was at risk. Browder was able to liquidate most of the Funds’ investments and left the country for his own safety. He also arranged for the safe exit of most of his business associates. But one of his associates, an attorney named Sergey Magnitsky, did not leave because he had faith in the Russian legal system. Unfortunately, the Russian authorities arrested Magnitsky and he died while in custody because they denied him required medical care.

Had Browder ended the book with Magnitsky’s unfortunate death I would have considered Red Notice a triumph. I would have called it a very well written expose of how doing business in Russia can result in tragedy.

However, Browder did not end the book with Magnitsky’s death. He went on to describe in detail how he got justice for Magnitsky by encouraging United States legislators to pass legislation (known as the Magnitsky Act) which prohibits the responsible Russian authorities from entering the United States or using its banking system. It is worth noting that, in response to the Magnitsky Act, Russia passed legislation prohibiting Americans from adopting Russian orphans.

I found the discussion of the Magnitsky Act to be troubling. Browder never admits that his efforts to make as much money as possible for his Fund in Russia may have been partly responsible for Magnitsky’s death. And his extensive efforts to obtain passage of the Magnitsky Act could be construed as self-aggrandizement for actions that would not have been necessary had he been a little less greedy and a little more cautious in his investing activities.

There is no question that Red Notice is a very well written book. It is as exciting as any adventure novel and, like such a novel, I could not put it down. But I cannot get past Browder’s descriptions of his own actions. He falsely makes himself out to be some type of hero because of his successful effort to obtain passage the Magnitsky Act. I give this book 3 stars.

Book Review: Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty

Cautionary Tale About the Tragic Consequences of a Successful Capitalist

In Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty author Patrick Redden Keefe tells the story of the Sackler family’s roll in the opioid crises. As told by Keefe, the Sacklers, through their ownership of Purdue Pharma, manufactured oxycontin, which they aggressively marketed as a non-addictive opioid. He explains that, even after they knew that oxycontin was leading to addiction and ruining people’s lives, they ignored its harm and continued to promote its use so as to maximize profits.

The story, as told by Keefe, is about how the Sacklers ignored a public heath crisis of their own making in order to feed their own greed. His story is very well researched and reads like a novel rather than a historical narrative. This book deserves its place on most of the best book lists of 2021.

However, this more than a story about one family’s greed. As tragic as this story is, it is not all that shocking. It is a cautionary tale about what can go wrong in our capitalist/litigious society. The following set of circumstances, as related in Empire of Pain, should be familiar to most readers:

An entrepreneur identifies a market for a new product.
The entrepreneur develops the product.
The entrepreneur aggressively markets the product with the single-minded goal of maximizing profits.
The product is successful and the entrepreneur makes a lot of money.
When it turns out that some people are being harmed by the product the plaintiff lawyers swoop in to hold someone accountable.
The entrepreneur uses a portion of his profits to buy the support of politicians and regulators and to hire high priced lawyers that make the plaintiffs’ litigation as difficult and expensive as possible.
In the end the product is altered or removed from the market, the entrepreneur gives up a fraction of his profits and the lawyers end up with a lot of the money.

This is a very thought provoking book both from the perspective of the actions of the Sackler family and from the larger perspective of how their actions are not that unusual in our society. I give this book 5 stars and recommend it for all.

Book Review: Red Card: How the U.S. Blew the Whistle on the World's Biggest Sports Scandal

Meticulous Description of the Investigation That Blew the Lid Off Corruption in International Soccer

I read a lot of historical narratives because I enjoy learning about other times, places and events. While these books are always informative, occasionally, I will find one that is also a real page turner. Red Card: How the U.S. Blew the Whistle on the World’s Biggest Sports Scandal by Ken Bensinger is one of those books.

I do not follow international soccer on a regular basis. However, like many people, I do tend to pay attention during the World Cup, the quadrennial tournament that pits the best national teams against each other to determine the best team in the world. I never gave much thought to the administrative workings of the various soccer associations around the world. However, I certainly took notice of the day in 2015 when Swiss Police, pursuant to the request of the United States Department of Justice, raided a Zurich meeting and arrested numerous members of FIFA, international soccer’s governing body. Red Card is the extremely well written story of the investigation that led to charges of fraud, kickbacks, bribes and money laundering brought against those who were arrested on that day in Zurich.

Bensinger does a great job of introducing the characters, both the investigators and the criminals, explaining the crimes that led to the charges, and describing the meticulous steps in the investigation. Anyone who wants to understand the rot in international soccer that led to the greatest sports scandal in history would be well advised to read this book.

That does not mean, however, that this book is without its shortcomings. All of the characters seem to be a little one dimensional. Bensinger presents all of the investigators as dedicated public servants seeking to bring wrongdoers to justice. He presents the soccer officials as greedy administrators who take bribes because that is just the way that business is done in their industry. I would have liked to have seen a little more depth on the motivation of the soccer officials. What did they have to do to reach the top ranks of their respective associations where they were in a position to start receiving bribes? Were they aware that they would start receiving bribes once they reached the top ranks? Were any of them surprised when they started receiving bribes as part of the regular course of business? Did anyone ever refuse a bribe or express concern that they were so prevalent?

Notwithstanding the above described shortcomings Red Card is a very informative and entertaining book. I recommend it for everyone and I give it four stars.

Book Review: Rag and Bone: A Journey Among the World's Holy Dead

An Unexpected Trip Through the World’s Reliquaries

I picked up Rag and Bone: A Journey Among the World’s Holy Dead by Peter Manseau expecting to read a scholarly history on some fairly esoteric religious beliefs. I was pleasantly surprised when I found that the book was actually a highly entertaining travelogue through the world of religious relics.

Relics, as used in the context of this book, are things of religious significance that are the subject of veneration. They are often the remains of a holy person or anything that came in contact with a holy person. In Rag and Bone Peter Manseau travels the world visiting reliquaries (the places where relics are kept) and meeting the people that venerate those relics.

The subject of relics is somewhat sensitive. Some people are very committed to the relics because of their religious beliefs. However, others may not be all that comfortable with the concept of veneration of a tongue or a bone or a hair. In addition, they may suspect that the objects being venerated are not what they claim to be and that those who venerate them are being conned. I appreciated how Manseau successfully walked a very fine line here. He acknowledged the skepticism of many readers but, at the same time, was respectful of the beliefs of those who have faith in the relics.

Readers of travelogues are, in effect, taking a trip with the author. Therefore, the first rule of a good travelogue is that the author must be a pleasant person with whom the reader would like to take a trip. Mr. Manseau unmistakably meets this requirement. I enjoyed his wry sense of humor and his personal perspective on the stops on his trip.

I found this book to be very entertaining. Through my travels with Mr. Manseau I learned something about a world with which I was unfamiliar and would not have ever visited. I give this book 4 stars and recommend it for those who are interested in a light book about religious beliefs.

Book Review: The Thursday Murder Club

A Highly Enjoyable Visit With a Charming Group of Amateur Sleuths

I am an unapologetic reader of non-fiction. My interests range from history, to religion, to economics, to politics. Give me a 500 page tome on how the Mongol Empire fostered mercantile trading throughout Europe and Asia and I am good to go.

My wife, who cares about my wellbeing, often encourages me to try to be a little less serious and to occasionally lose myself in a light piece of fiction. From time to time I will try to read a well recommended novel. But by the time I get half way through the Kindle sample I will get bored and return to one of my more typical reads. This has been going on for over 20 years.

But recently my wife suggested that I try The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman. Unlike other fiction that I have tried, I completed the entire book over a 2 day period. During those two days I was pleasantly transported out of my world and into the little world portrayed in the book.

The Thursday Murder Club is a “cozy mystery,” one in which amateur sleuths seek to solve mysteries that seem to elude the police - think Agatha Christy’s Ms. Marple. In this case the sleuths are four residents of an English retirement home who meet on Thursday afternoons to go through the evidence contained in cold case files hoping to solve old murders. When two actual murders occur in and around their retirement home they use their skills to try to solve the current cases.

So what was it about this book that captured my attention? I think it was several things. First, there is an enjoyable wry sense of humor that pervades all of the action. Second, the story is very organic. Everything unfolds in a logical way without contrivances. Third, there is very little description of the characters’ thoughts or backstories. The reader gets to know the characters in the same way you would get to know people in real life - through their dialogue (which, in this book, is outstanding) and their actions. And, finally, the main characters - the four members of the Thursday Murder Club and the two police-persons - are genuinely likable. I enjoyed the “who dunnit” plot of the book. But more than that I enjoyed spending time with these characters.

As usual, my wife was right. There is a lot to be said for taking some time away from my non-fiction and reading some enjoyable fiction every once in a while. However, it has to be the right kind of fiction. Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club was just that kind of fiction for me. I am looking forward to reading Osman’s sequel. I give this book 4 stars and recommend it for everyone, even those readers who think they can only read non-fiction.

Book Review: Checkmate in Berlin: The Cold War Showdown that Shaped the Modern World

A Thrilling Presentation of Events in Post-War Berlin

In Checkmate in Berlin: The Cold War Showdown That Shaped the Modern World, author Giles Milton describes the interactions of the Americans, British, French and Russians during their occupation of post-war Berlin. I typically read historical narratives that describe a time or event. Some of these are very good and I give them high ratings. But Milton’s work is a revelation in that he goes beyond mere description and gives the reader a historical narrative that is just as exciting as any fictional thriller.

Post-war Berlin was supposed to have been occupied jointly by the United States, Great Britain, France and Russia. Governance of Berlin was supposed to be by a joint committee of the occupying countries. The representatives of the allied forces initially attempted to work with their allies, the Russians. However, Russia immediately did everything that they could to undermine the joint occupation and to try to take complete control of the entire city.

Milton’s main character throughout the book was Col. Frank “Howlin’ Mad” Howley, the representative of the American Forces. He was the first to recognize the Russians’ strategy. While he was at first disbelieved Howley ultimately led the allied effort to respond to the Russians and to maintain allied control of their respective sectors of the city.

By writing this book through the eyes of the men who were on the ground Milton effectively described a sort of chess match full of moves and countermoves aimed at control of all sectors of Berlin.

Russia’s final move was to create a blockade around West Berlin so that the allied forces could not deliver food or fuel to their troops or to the residents. When faced with a choice between armed conflict with Russia and an attempt to airlift all required supplies, President Truman authorized the airlift. Milton thrillingly describes the airlift, managed by Maj-Gen William Tunner, that came to the rescue of the citizens of West Berlin.

When it became clear that Russia’s blockade would not work as planned they terminated the siege and Berlin became a divided with West Berlin aligned with the West for the next 40 years.

The events described by Milton were definitely exciting. His stirring presentation of those events as a strategic match between committed men took this book to a level above the typical historical narrative. I give this book 5 stars and recommend it for everyone.

Book Review: Imperial Twilight: The Opium War and the End of China's Last Golden Age

Exercise of British Power in the Early 19th Century That Reverberates to This Day

In Imperial Twilight: The Opium War and the End of China’s Last Golden Age, author Stephen R. Platt describes the 1839 War in which Britain forced China to open its ports to trade and, in particular, trade in opium. This is a riveting book that describes a very sad chapter in the relations between East and West.

While this book is purportedly about the Opium war it is actually about the diplomacy between Britain and China that led up to that War. In the early 19th century China was ruled by the Qing dynasty. Platt does an excellent job of depicting Qing China as an insular society that is dealing with its own internal problems and has no need or desire for very much interaction with the outside world. China had opened its port at Canton to very limited trade with the West. But it did not permit any further interaction with outsiders.

But that did not stop the British from seeking more interaction with the Chinese. Platt describes several efforts by adventurers, traders and representatives of the British government to gain admittance to the interior of China. But all were rebuffed. Initially, the British government seemed satisfied with the status quo as long as they could trade for Chinese tea in Canton.

But things changed when the British East India Company found that there was money to be made from opium grown in India and then exported to China through illegal traders. Thus, the British sought profits on the backs of the growing addiction to opium in China. The Chinese authorities attempted to respond to this growing addiction by preventing the illegal importation of opium. But representatives of the East India Company and the illegal British traders put pressure on the British government to have a “little” war with China to force the importation of all goods.

Platt fully describes the debates in the Prime Minister’s cabinet and in Parliament over whether the British should have that little war with China. Some who supported the war wanted to force China to open its borders for trade with England. Others supported the war because they thought that China was failing to adequately show respect to England, the most powerful nation on earth. In any event, there was little consideration given to the Chinese people who were succumbing to the British supplied opium.

Ultimately, the British did go to war with China. And China was unable to defend itself. The British forced China to sign a treaty that opened its borders to trade with England. China then signed treaties with similar terms with other Western countries. Thus, began the 100 years of shame for China. The 100 years ended with a revolution against the Qing dynasty and ultimately to the current form of government in China.

It is worth noting that I happened to read this book at the same time that I was reading Giles Milton’s Checkmate in Berlin, the story of the allied powers’ airlift that defeated Russia’s 1948 siege of West Berlin. The two books together gave me a great perspective on the similarities and differences between Britain in the early 19th century, when it could do virtually anything that it wanted as the greatest imperial power on earth, and Britain in the mid 20th century, when its imperial power was over and it was reduced to playing a supporting role to the United States.

I liked this book very much. It described a time in which the British treated China, like virtually all other countries, as if they were second rate entities. And it plots a direct line from that treatment by the British to the relationships that currently exist between China and the West. I give this book 4 stars and recommend it for everyone.

Book Review: The Greek Revolution: 1821 and the Making of Modern Europe

Exciting Portrayal of the Revolution of the First European Nationalists

In The Greek Revolution: 1821 and the Making of Modern Europe author Mark Mazower tells the story of the first attempt by a European people to seek independence from the Ottoman Empire. I have always had an interest in the rise and fall of the great empires. Thanks to Mr. Mazower’s well-written narrative I now have a much better perspective of Greece’s fight for independence from the Ottoman Empire and the impact that that fight had on the eventual collapse of that Empire.

Throughout the book Mazower focuses on the people who led the revolution. He explains early on how and why those leaders changed as the War dragged on. He meticulously shows how those leaders dealt with innumerable challenges including the lack of funds, the lack of equipment, a weak central administration, interregional conflicts and the lack of modern military training.

When reading The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775-1777, Rick Atkinson’s excellent story of the early years of the American Revolution, I had to ask “how did these people ever win this war?” While reading Mazower’s description of the challenges facing the Greek revolutionaries, I had to ask the same question about the Greeks.

Mazower shows that the challenges faced by the Greek revolutionaries were even greater than those faced by the Americans. Unlike in America, where the colonies joined together to fight the British, the interregional conflicts in Greece led to internal civil war waged at the same time as the War with the Ottomans. And unlike American soldiers who were united in their fight against the British, many of the Greek “soldiers” were often more interested in plundering the Greek peasants than in fighting for independence from the Ottomans.

Like the Americans the leaders of the Greek revolution knew that their success lay in obtaining support from one of more of the great European powers. Mazower does an excellent job of explaining how the European view of Greece and their revolution vacillated throughout the years of the conflict and how and why they ultimately decided to take action.

This is a very well written and highly accessible description of the people who led Greece in its 12 year struggle for independence from the Ottoman Empire. It was the first time that a European population successfully gained its independence from one of the great Empires of the 19th century. And it was repeated many times over as the map of Europe evolved over the 19th and 20th centuries. I liked this book very much and give it 4 stars. I recommend it as a must read for anyone interested in modern European history.

Book Review:Fallout: Spies, Superbombs and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown

Reliving a Very Scary Time

In Fallout: Spies, Superbombs and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown, author Steve Sheinkin tells the story of the early years of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. I typically choose to read long dense non-fiction books for the purpose of learning something new about an historical era. Since I have read extensively on the Cold War and lived through the era I did not read this book to learn something new. Instead, I read it specifically to see how Sheinkin would handle these scary times.

Sheinkin is a master at telling a complex story in a highly accessible manner. His books are aimed at young readers. But they are also great for readers of any level seeking a concise, suspenseful and well written explanation of the covered events. I have been a fan of Sheinkin’s ever since reading his book entitled Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Viet Nam War in which he tells the story of Daniel Ellsberg’s disclosure of the Pentagon Papers.

In Fallout Sheinkin does not disappoint. The early Cold War years were defined by the threat of nuclear war and world annihilation. Sheinkin weaves his action-packed narrative through spies, politicians and military leaders to show all of the circumstances that could have led to the end of the world as we know it. He included everything that made the early Cold War era terrifying, including Nikita Khrushchev’s promise to “bury” us, the downing of Gary Powers’ U-2 spy plane over Russia, the fear of radiation poisoning from atmospheric nuclear weapon testing, the preparation of bomb shelters, the failed Bay of Pigs invasion and, finally, the Russians attempt to install nuclear-armed missiles in Cuba.

Sheinkin has written more than an excellent history of the early years of the Cold War. He has managed to take the reader back in time and to make them feel what it was like to live in a world in which nuclear war was a real threat. I give this book 5 stars and highly recommend it, especially for young readers who want to know what life was like for their parents and grandparents while they were growing up in a world that seemed to be on the brink of the final World War.