Russia's Man of War
The Extraordinary Viktor Bout
Published on 20. February 2025
Book
Hardback
360 pages
978-1-911723-94-3 (ISBN)
Description
An intrepid reporter's fast-paced investigation into the extraordinary life of Viktor Bout, the much-mythologised Russian fixer known as the 'Merchant of Death'.
Viktor Bout was a warlord's warlord, according to MI6, the US National Security Council and the CIA-a terrorist facilitator, and the world's most prolific arms dealer. They tracked him everywhere, smuggling weapons from North Korea and the former Soviet Union into the world's bloodiest conflict zones, from Liberia to Afghanistan. Intelligence services called him a secret KGB asset; the White House, the most dangerous man in the world. But Bout strenuously denied this, describing himself as a businessman.
Washington hunted Bout for more than a decade, before finally trapping him and jailing him for 25 years. Then, in December 2022, the story took an unlikely turn: President Biden pardoned Bout and sent him home to Moscow, in a prisoner exchange to rescue basketball superstar Brittney Griner, jailed in Russia on drugs charges. Soon enough, Bout cosied up with doomed Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov and the Russian governors Putin had installed in occupied Ukraine.
Has America's extraordinary decision to swap Bout undermined Western interests? Has Putin put him back to work in his old business? Through candid interviews with US investigators and Viktor Bout himself, this book reveals the true story of the 'Merchant of Death'.
Viktor Bout was a warlord's warlord, according to MI6, the US National Security Council and the CIA-a terrorist facilitator, and the world's most prolific arms dealer. They tracked him everywhere, smuggling weapons from North Korea and the former Soviet Union into the world's bloodiest conflict zones, from Liberia to Afghanistan. Intelligence services called him a secret KGB asset; the White House, the most dangerous man in the world. But Bout strenuously denied this, describing himself as a businessman.
Washington hunted Bout for more than a decade, before finally trapping him and jailing him for 25 years. Then, in December 2022, the story took an unlikely turn: President Biden pardoned Bout and sent him home to Moscow, in a prisoner exchange to rescue basketball superstar Brittney Griner, jailed in Russia on drugs charges. Soon enough, Bout cosied up with doomed Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov and the Russian governors Putin had installed in occupied Ukraine.
Has America's extraordinary decision to swap Bout undermined Western interests? Has Putin put him back to work in his old business? Through candid interviews with US investigators and Viktor Bout himself, this book reveals the true story of the 'Merchant of Death'.
Reviews / Votes
'A story thrillingly and way too amusingly told ... Cathy Scott-Clark's thriller-like account packs in intrigue, an international manhunt - and a risky US-Russia prisoner swap.' -- <b><i>Financial Times</i></b> 'Timely ... richly reported and detailed ... [Cathy Scott-Clark] benefits from rare extensive interviews with [Viktor Bout].' -- <b><i>The Economist</I>'40 Best Books Published So Far This Year'</b> 'Fascinating, authoritative and packed with detail and scoops, Russia's Man of War raises important and urgent questions about the world we live in and how we got here. A very fine piece of investigative journalism and writing.' -- <b>Jason Burke, International Security Correspondent, <I>The Guardian</I></b> 'A virtually unbelievable but true story.' -- <b>Alvin 'Buzzy' Krongard, Executive Director, CIA (2001-4), and former board member, Blackwater Worldwide</b> 'Cathy Scott Clark has done it again! Entering once more at great risk into a hitherto secret world and coming back with a literary scoop. Her book offers thrilling insights into the astonishing and unstoppable rise of a Russian who became Africa's lord of war. Unputdownable.' -- <b>Stephen Grey, investigative journalist, and author of <I>Ghost Plane: The True Story of the CIA Torture Program</I></b> 'Cathy Scott-Clark is a fluid writer and a reporter who digs deep. Her biography of Viktor Bout is an illuminating window into the murky worlds of the global arms trade and Putin's Russia.' -- <b>Peter Bergen, author of <I>The Rise and Fall of Osama bin Laden</I></b> 'A brilliantly reported and compelling deep dive into the extraordinary story of international arms dealer Viktor Bout, the real life Merchant of Death. Bout's life, from a career in Soviet military intelligence to a booming empire of arms dealing created in the chaos of the 1990s to becoming an unlikely hero of Putin's Russia, encapsulates everything that's most rotten--and most darkly fascinating--about post Soviet Russia.' -- <b>Owen Matthews, author of <I>Overreach: The Inside Story of Putin's War on Ukraine?</I></b> 'Scott-Clark examines the myths and legends surrounding Bout, probes their origins and veracity, and provides a more balanced perspective on this controversial figure. She illuminates the role of this important personality and the role he played in the evolution of some of Africa's most intense conflicts.' -- <b>William Reno, Professor and Chair of the Political Science Department, Northwestern University, and author of <I>Warfare in Independent Africa</I></b>More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Illustrations
16 Illustrations, color
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 168 mm
Thickness: 40 mm
Weight
763 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-911723-94-3 (9781911723943)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
02/2025
Hurst Publishers
€22.49
Available for download
Person
Cathy Scott-Clark is an award-winning investigative journalist and author, and an Emmy-winning filmmaker. She has worked with HBO, the BBC, The Sunday Times and The Guardian, and has co-authored books with Adrian Levy including The Exile: The Flight of Osama bin Laden; The Siege: The Attack on the Taj; and CIA expose The Forever Prisoner.