Red Roulette: An Insider's Story of Wealth, Power, Corruption, and Vengeance in Today's China
- Downloads：7011
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-09-24 11:21:07
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Desmond Shum
- ISBN：1797132652
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
Reviews
CA
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To be frank， as a chinese borned and grown in china， i don't like this story， though I'm not a CCP advocate or Wumao。 Because the author doesn't tell anything new in the book。 In fact， what he has revealed is common sense or well-known information among average chinese people。 Maybe this story is appealing to foreigners， but to me or most chinese， it worths only three stars。 To be frank， as a chinese borned and grown in china， i don't like this story， though I'm not a CCP advocate or Wumao。 Because the author doesn't tell anything new in the book。 In fact， what he has revealed is common sense or well-known information among average chinese people。 Maybe this story is appealing to foreigners， but to me or most chinese， it worths only three stars。 。。。more
John Fullerton
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Desmond Shum has done us a great service with this frank and realistic portrayal of the inner workings of the Chinese Communist Party and especially the 'Red Aristocracy' that has accrued so much power and wealth through personal connections and graft。 It's also a tale of a rather unusual marriage and its breakdown， along with the perils of unlimited greed and an unrestrained pursuit of power and the billions of dollars that could be accrued by the Red Princes until General Secretary Xi launched Desmond Shum has done us a great service with this frank and realistic portrayal of the inner workings of the Chinese Communist Party and especially the 'Red Aristocracy' that has accrued so much power and wealth through personal connections and graft。 It's also a tale of a rather unusual marriage and its breakdown， along with the perils of unlimited greed and an unrestrained pursuit of power and the billions of dollars that could be accrued by the Red Princes until General Secretary Xi launched his crackdown on opponents as well as private corporations。 We learn， too， that much if not most of Xi's current anti-corruption moves are in fact nothing more than systematic political hit jobs as he restores hardline Party power over the country's economy and politics。Don't imagine for one moment that the CCP is all about workers and peasants。 Nothing could further from the truth。One paragraph pretty much sums it up: 'That give-no-quarter feature is a function of the Communist system。 From an early age， we Chinese are pitted against one another in a rat race and told only the strong survive。 We're not taught to cooperate， or be team players。 Rather， we learn how to divide the world into enemies and allies - and that alliances are temporary and allies expandable。 We're prepared to inform on our parents， teachers， and friends if the Party tells us to。 And we're instructed that the only thing that matters is winning and that only suckers suffer moral qualms。'Highly readable， even enjoyable， this account by a former insider and billionaire is nevertheless a frightening journey into the depths of what amounts to a gangster superpower。 。。。more
Moaraj Hasan
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Cringy Opening Chapters BUT THEN Incredible ride through the middle holy crap china is such an intense place。 Was like reading about some game of throne， war of the roses shit as Desmond and Whitney cajole， intince and drink their way into the communist's party grasp， make their money， and barely get out。 Incredible ride。 Cringy Opening Chapters BUT THEN Incredible ride through the middle holy crap china is such an intense place。 Was like reading about some game of throne， war of the roses shit as Desmond and Whitney cajole， intince and drink their way into the communist's party grasp， make their money， and barely get out。 Incredible ride。 。。。more
Horace Derwent
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GROOVY老卵，阿拉上海宁！
Arthur
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Interesting book describing the insider political and business dealings required to move a company forward in modern China。 Gives an idea of how political dealings and power plays are done at the highest level in the country。 I was surprised at the extent to which personal relationship and corruption are central in this day to day world。 Very large construction undertakings are overcome with bureaucracy and personal relationship wrangling to move things forward。 Somehow I was under the impressio Interesting book describing the insider political and business dealings required to move a company forward in modern China。 Gives an idea of how political dealings and power plays are done at the highest level in the country。 I was surprised at the extent to which personal relationship and corruption are central in this day to day world。 Very large construction undertakings are overcome with bureaucracy and personal relationship wrangling to move things forward。 Somehow I was under the impression that China is far more centralized and streamlined。I want to take off a star for the writing being a bit dry at times， but the star comes right back given the uniqueness of the book and the novelty of the insider information provided。 Nearly all members of China’s elite have much to lose and little incentive to dedicate energy to publicize information like this。 This makes for a unique read， would definitely recommend to anyone who is interested in the working of politics or business in modern China。 。。。more
Yiwei Li
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at the end when Whitney Duan was kidnapped by the CCP， all but failing from her Guanxi-driven mega-rich empire， I wrote this， she is such an enchanting charachter， destined to fall in the era of Red Roulette， unforgettable。
Ma Chi
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An insider's story， revealing the way CCP and businessmen interact with each other。 An insider's story， revealing the way CCP and businessmen interact with each other。 。。。more
Lulu Opio
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Insightful and Facinating。
jennet wheatstonelllsl
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The Confessions of Wanda von
Jason
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Shocking revelations about the inner workings of the highest level of China’s political and business elite。 An extremely rare insider view。
Percy Yue
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The boldest book I read so far that clearly explains the evilness operation of the CCP and how the so-called red aristocracy who benefit themselves at the expense of the Chinese people。 As long as it continues its rule， China and Chinese would continue to suffer。 It makes me feel more certain that Hong Kong should separate itself from Mainland China once the CCP starts to collapse！
Zed
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I give a five because I appreciate the blunt storytelling of the author。 There is no glamour or sensationalizing in his voice， yet the matter-of-fact recount of both enormous successes and falls from heaven of any character mentioned painted a chillingly true picture of China's bizzare condition。 Coming from a culture with much historic and geographic ties to China， this book resonates strongly with some of the doubts I have been having about this nation， as well as greatly clarify many of the l I give a five because I appreciate the blunt storytelling of the author。 There is no glamour or sensationalizing in his voice， yet the matter-of-fact recount of both enormous successes and falls from heaven of any character mentioned painted a chillingly true picture of China's bizzare condition。 Coming from a culture with much historic and geographic ties to China， this book resonates strongly with some of the doubts I have been having about this nation， as well as greatly clarify many of the links I could not have realized before。 Furthermore， this is a particularly valuable account because it is so timely。 The events are still vivid and Xi's personality cult is still progressing。 Truly something that merits reading as soon as it was released。 。。。more
Matthew Chong
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A reveting read ， how china aristocracy intertwine with politics 。
Paul Shi
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Fascinating read
Robert D
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A very compelling and frightening story about life in Communist China。 I can not decide how surprised I am at the story told。 Under Xi Jinping apparently many if not all of the “liberal ideas” that could have and should been released are now closed。 I can not understand how the CCP will be able to control the millions of people for the long term without a complete rebellion， but that was how it was born and perhaps how it will die。 Good luck Chinese people！
Žiga
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An interesting account delivered in a style that would have benefited from not being published。
Wouter Nauta
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Fascinating memoir。
Alex
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pretty accurate tbh
Sanford Chee
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The Economist reviewhttps://www。economist。com/china/2021/。。。 The Economist reviewhttps://www。economist。com/china/2021/。。。 。。。more
Hilary （Melted Books）
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Red Roulette is a rags-to-riches autobiography of entrepreneur and real estate developer Desmond Shum。 Born in Shanghai in 1968 and raised in Hong Kong， Shum describes how his humble upbringing - which came from the fact that his grandfather was marked as a member of the low-ranking “black category” in post-Communist Revolution China - galvanized his entrepreneurial spirit。 Red Roulette is a tell-all book that traces the steps of Shum’s journey， including his business dealings， his eventual part Red Roulette is a rags-to-riches autobiography of entrepreneur and real estate developer Desmond Shum。 Born in Shanghai in 1968 and raised in Hong Kong， Shum describes how his humble upbringing - which came from the fact that his grandfather was marked as a member of the low-ranking “black category” in post-Communist Revolution China - galvanized his entrepreneurial spirit。 Red Roulette is a tell-all book that traces the steps of Shum’s journey， including his business dealings， his eventual partnering （both in business and marriage） with fellow ambitious entrepreneur Whitney Duan， and the inside happenings of China’s political environment that made Shum’s fortune possible。 。Review: Red Roulette is full of twists and turns。 With a steady pace and writing that flows easily， this is a quick read。 In particular， the descriptions of wealth and spending are， I think， especially interesting purely for their opulent spectacle。 I will say that I had trouble becoming fully emotionally invested in this book once the chapters shifted from Shum’s childhood to his adult business ventures。 I felt like I got to know Shum on a very personal level in the early chapters， but not so much in the later ones when the focus was more on business dealings。 However， I still say to pick this book up if you’re interested in an in-depth perspective on the intersection between Chinese politics and business， because this book definitely delivers on that！。Thank you to Scribner for sending me a copy of Red Roulette in exchange for an honest review！ 。。。more
David V。
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Received as an ARC from the publisher。 Started 7-9-21。 Finished 7-12-21。 The subtitle of this book makes it sound so scholarly and boring----it is anything but！！！！ It reads like a fiction novel but unfortunately it is all so true。 Mr。 Shum and his first wife， with all good intentions， attempt to develop financial careers in China where they were born， and to help the country become more adept at encouraging other countries and companies to form businesses there。 After years of success but the fa Received as an ARC from the publisher。 Started 7-9-21。 Finished 7-12-21。 The subtitle of this book makes it sound so scholarly and boring----it is anything but！！！！ It reads like a fiction novel but unfortunately it is all so true。 Mr。 Shum and his first wife， with all good intentions， attempt to develop financial careers in China where they were born， and to help the country become more adept at encouraging other countries and companies to form businesses there。 After years of success but the failure of their marriage， the Chinese government returned to its previous hard-nosed approach to criticism and to outsiders' influence， ending with the couples' loss of their businesses， the disappearance of the former wife， and the husband leaving China for good。 I found myself reading faster as I got toward the end; not what I expected from a book with this title。 Should be required reading for all those studying international business and/or politics。 。。。more
Allison
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