(7/6/2025)
RED NOTICE is nonfiction, and I know that nonfiction can often be dull. But please believe that this isn't. You need to read this. RED NOTICE is a book that everyone should read.
This is Bill Browder's story of his experiences with Russia since the Soviet Union. He invested in Russia as CEO of Hermitage Capital Management and became the country's largest foreign investor. Then the Russians charged him with stealing and tax evasion, all lies, all made up so that he would stop accusing Russian oligarchs of doing exactly that and proving it. He had to leave Russia for his own safety and soon realized that anyone he worked with had to get out, too. What he didn't know at first was that even his lawyer was not safe there, even the lawyer who worked with his lawyer.
Eventually, Browder was able to convince his lawyer to leave Russia. But Sergei Magnitsky, Browder's other lawyer, would not. He believed too strongly in the law, that the truth would eventually win. But this was Russia, is Russia. Magnitsky would not lie, and the Russians arrested, tortured, and murdered him as a result.
This is also Browder's story of convincing other countries to enact laws, in the name of Magnitsky, to sanction these human rights abusers. Browder has devoted most of his life to this since Magnitsky's death. This is how he could see that Magnitsky's murderers are made to pay.
Everyone should read this so we remember the evil of Russia. As you read RED NOTICE, remember the news stories he speaks of and how they were presented to us at the time. For example, remember the news story of Vladimir Putin's no longer allowing Americans to adopt Russian orphans. That was his way of punishing Americans for enacting the Magnitsky Act. Putin says he did this for the orphans' safety, and that's how the media presented the story, as if we should take Putin at his word.
Browder wrote RED NOTICE 10 years ago. He followed up with another book, FREEZING ORDER, more recently, in 2022. Believe me, you'll want to read it when you finish RED NOTICE.
I read FREEZING ORDER first because I won it. It interested me so much I was sorry I hadn't read RED NOTICE first. And now that I've read it, I want to reread FREEZING ORDER. It will be the only book I've reread since THE GATEWAY TO STORYLAND when I was five.