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Red Roulette: An Insider's Story of Wealth, Power, Corruption and Vengeance in Today's China

Red Roulette: An Insider's Story of Wealth, Power, Corruption and Vengeance in Today's China by Amazonundefined

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As Desmond Shum was growing up impoverished in China, he vowed his life would be different. Through hard work and sheer tenacity, he earned an American college degree and returned to his native country to establish himself in business. There, he met his future wife, the highly intelligent and equally ambitious Whitney Duan who was determined to make her mark within Chinas male-dominated society. Whitney and Desmond formed an effective team and, aided by relationships they formed with top members of Chinas Communist Party, the so-called Red Aristocracy, he vaulted into Chinas billionaire class.
Recenzja
'The book China doesnt want you to read.'
CNN
'
Powerful and disturbing
The Chinese government will not be happy with this book....Rarely has anyone in modern China been brave enough to violate its oppressive code of silence and give an honest first-hand account of what
really
goes on in the corridors of power.' -- Bill Browder, author of Red Notice'The book is full of
fabulous titbits
... It was a period of so much scheming that the Beijing Hotel employed two full-time coordinators to stagger guests so as to prevent inconvenient encounters. Its this level of detail on Beijings inner workings that has clearly spooked the communist high command. Shums recollections are still deeply embarrassing for the Chinese Communist Party, making this memoir
a singular, highly readable insider account
of the most secretive of global powers.' -- Cindy Yu
Spectator
'The machine was right to be worried. Large scandals of the recent past are revisited in
Red Roulette
[The book] details an elite China built on secrets and fear, in which family ties are one of the only reliable bonds of trust.' -- David Rennie
The Economist
'
Red Roulette
pulls back the curtain on the sordid world of the Communist aristrocracy
: how they operate, what drives them and what it means to rise and fall in their regime.' -- Juliet Samuel
Daily Telegraph
'Offers a rare peek into the luxe lifestyles of Chinas elites
a vivid portrait
.'
Washington Post
'A
rare alternative to Chinas tightly controlled, state-sponsored narratives. In his book, Shum poses an urgent question: "What type of system allows for extra-legal kidnappings of the type that befell Whitney Duan?"'
Bloomberg
'
Red Roulette
was already shaping up as
a must-read
account of corruption at the highest levels of the Chinese Communist Party. But the sudden reemergence last week of Whitney Duan, Shums former wife, four years after disappearing into apparent arbitrary detention in Beijing, has made the book a news story.'
Politico, China Watcher
'
Red Roulette
is
everything those who follow China have been waiting for
: a deeply personal epic that reveals the idealism, ecstasy and avarice of post-Deng Xiaoping ChinaThere simply isn't another inside history of today's Chinese leadership like this one. If it spawns a new genre of Chinese personal histories - as I hope it will -
Red Roulette
will remain the classic of its category. Desmond Shums book is
riveting, moving and dangerous
.' -- Matt Pottinger, former US Deputy National Security Advisor'
A rare inside peek
at the cossetted Chinese elite who parlay their connections with Politburo members into billions. This is a world of Château Lafite, Rolls Royces and $100 million yachts, where friendships are strictly transactional. Although the book can be fun and gossipy, it's also poignant, and, ultimately, we come away with
rich insights
into the workings of the Chinese Communist Party and the billionaires it has spawned.' -- Barbara Demick, former Beijing bureau chief for the Los Angeles Times'
Grippingsensationalrich, nuanced
, and helped change my mind about much that I thought I understood about China.' -- David Barboza
The Wire
'A deliberative, slow-building,
suspenseful narrative
that reveals numerous insights about the mechanics of power and greed Observers of contemporary Chinese affairs, consistently intriguing and murky territory, will find much to interest them here. A
riveting
look inside "the roulette-like political environment of the New China".'
Kirkus (starred review)
'Students of Chinese politics and business will appreciate Shums personal narrative of Chinas turbulent economic rise; this book deserves a wide audience.'
Library Journal
'[The book that shows] why Chinas billionaires are disappearing off the streets. Is this outspoken tycoon the next target to fall?'
60 Minutes (Australia)
'One of the very few insider accounts we have of how things get done at the top in China... Its also
very well written
... And it
would make a tremendous movie
about wealth, power and oppression in China. Its a shame that, thanks to that same power and oppression, no one in Hollywood will ever have the guts to make it.'
Foreign Policy
'A memoir that shows how the Chinese government keeps business in line - and what will happen when businesspeople overstep...
Red Roulette
shows how government officials keep the rules fuzzy and the threat of a crackdown ever present.'
New York Times
'Shum knew he was picking a fight with the CCP the minute he decided to write
Red Roulette
and is aware he is now a marked man - he has reviewed his will and made sure his affairs are in order. "This is my David and Goliath fight," he says. "Except its Goliath times a million."'
Sunday Times
'
Red Roulette
is quickly shaping up to be
the new must-read
among observers of Chinese elite politics... A
vivid portrait
of the splashy lifestyles of Chinas business and political elites... Shum deploys his piquant sense of detail and offers a rare glimpse into the webs and knots of Chinas political and business royalty.'
Diplomat
Opis z tylnej okładki książki
As Desmond Shum was growing up impoverished in China, he vowed his life would be different. Through hard work and sheer tenacity, he earned an American college degree and returned to his native country to establish himself in business. There, he met his future wife, the highly intelligent and equally ambitious Whitney Duan who was determined to make her mark within Chinas male-dominated society. Whitney and Desmond formed an effective team and, aided by relationships they formed with top members of Chinas Communist Party, the so-called Red Aristocracy, he vaulted into Chinas billionaire class.
O autorze
Desmond Shum, who was born in Shanghai and raised in Hong Kong, was part of a private equity team that invested in the first NASDAQ-listed Chinese technology firm, and he later undertook investments in technology, finance and real estate in the Greater China region. He developed the largest air cargo logistics facility in China, the Beijing Airport Cargo Terminal. He also led the development of the Bulgari Hotel in Beijing. In addition, starting in the early 2000s, he was an early pioneer of philanthropy in China, gifting extensively both domestically and internationally. He is an Honorary Trustee of Tsinghua University and he's a Henry Crown Fellow of The Aspen Institute.
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