Leading journalists and society figures gathered in Northcliffe House last night for the book launch of Hunt The Banker: The Confessions Of A Russian Ex-Oligarch, by Alexander Lebedev.
Those who turned up to celebrate with Mr Lebedev, who bought the Evening Standard in 2009, included leading journalists, publishers and well-wishers. Evgeny Lebedev, the son of Alexander and proprietor of the Evening Standard, was also in attendance.
Hunt The Banker outlines Mr Lebedev’s relationships with leading politicians, businessmen and cultural figures in Russia and investigates the corruption scandals, contract killings and the multi-billion-dollar deals that have shaped Russian politics.
The book was translated by Arch Tait from its original Russian, and it has sold 50,000 copies in Russia already. A sequel – expected in the UK next year – has already sold 20,000 there.
The publisher of the book, Andrew Johnston, said: “We approached it as a financial banking book but it became much more than that when we got in touch with Alexander and found out how unassuming and approachable he was. That made being able to publish and publicise the book so much more easy.”
He added: “It is an extraordinary story of one man’s career and campaign to do the right thing in the financial world. Quiller are delighted to publish it and are sure it will prove to be the success we all believe it will be.”
