Butler to the World: The Book the Oligarchs Don't Want You to Read - How Britain Helps the World's Worst People Launder Money, Commit Crimes, and Get Away with Anything
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- Create Date：2022-09-01 03:41:36
- Update Date：2025-09-23
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- Author：Oliver Bullough
- ISBN：125028192X
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Summary
In his punchy follow-up to Moneyland， Oliver Bullough's Butler to the World unravels the dark secret of how Britain placed itself at the centre of the global offshore economy and at the service of the worst people in the world…
The Suez Crisis of 1956 was Britain’s twentieth century nadir， the moment when the once superpower was bullied into retreat。 In the immortal words of former US Secretary of State Dean Acheson， ‘Britain has lost an empire and not yet found a role。’ But the funny thing was， Britain had already found a role。 It even had the costume。 The leaders of the world just hadn’t noticed it yet。
Butler to the World reveals how the UK took up its position at the elbow of the worst people on Earth: the oligarchs， kleptocrats and gangsters。 We pride ourselves on values of fair play and the rule of law， but few countries do more to frustrate global anti- corruption efforts。 We are now a nation of Jeeveses， snobbish enablers for rich halfwits of considerably less charm than Bertie Wooster。 It doesn’t have to be that way。
The Suez Crisis of 1956 was Britain’s twentieth century nadir， the moment when the once superpower was bullied into retreat。 In the immortal words of former US Secretary of State Dean Acheson， ‘Britain has lost an empire and not yet found a role。’ But the funny thing was， Britain had already found a role。 It even had the costume。 The leaders of the world just hadn’t noticed it yet。
Butler to the World reveals how the UK took up its position at the elbow of the worst people on Earth: the oligarchs， kleptocrats and gangsters。 We pride ourselves on values of fair play and the rule of law， but few countries do more to frustrate global anti- corruption efforts。 We are now a nation of Jeeveses， snobbish enablers for rich halfwits of considerably less charm than Bertie Wooster。 It doesn’t have to be that way。
Reviews
Jonathan Krauss
，
“If governments can’t control their financial systems， they are no longer sovereign。”
Elsie
，
I always find it useful to understand more about financial crime。 This book was a solid addition to my reading， I’ll def check out the author’s other work！
Marlon Austin
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amazing
HO
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This book was a real let down。 There are serious policy questions around international taxation and the role of tax havens。 The author ignores all of them to write a polemic against the British government。 It’s a trivial book， that reads like a collection of articles mass appeal newspapers rather than a serious discuss of the issues。
Ed
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This was interesting， but felt a little too anecdotal for me。 I didn't feel that it fully and comprehensively scratched beneath the surface of offshore finance。 Maybe that's just because I'm an economics geek and keen to understand the exact tax mechanisms being exploited。A useful reminder though of how rife dirty money is in society， and how Britain has embraced it with the mantra "if not us， someone else will do it"。 This was interesting， but felt a little too anecdotal for me。 I didn't feel that it fully and comprehensively scratched beneath the surface of offshore finance。 Maybe that's just because I'm an economics geek and keen to understand the exact tax mechanisms being exploited。A useful reminder though of how rife dirty money is in society， and how Britain has embraced it with the mantra "if not us， someone else will do it"。 。。。more
Damian
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One of my first 2 star ratings。 I was hopeful because of the title， however there is almost nothing about oligarchs and is more of a dull history of random people and events that isn't connected。 One of my first 2 star ratings。 I was hopeful because of the title， however there is almost nothing about oligarchs and is more of a dull history of random people and events that isn't connected。 。。。more
Mike
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Very interesting look at the various eras of butlering。 Would have liked to have had a bit more on the "Londongrad" side of things， as well as possibly about how the Arab world entered London。 Possibly scope for a sequel on that topic though。 Very interesting look at the various eras of butlering。 Would have liked to have had a bit more on the "Londongrad" side of things， as well as possibly about how the Arab world entered London。 Possibly scope for a sequel on that topic though。 。。。more
Alastair Heffernan
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Oliver Bullough provides a to-the-point summary of the myriad means the professional services industry in the UK enables money launderers， tax dodgers， kleptocratic rulers and criminals。 All of which， in general， harms the poorest nations on Earth or the most vulnerable people in society。 It is exceptionally told， with a winning balance of detail that doesn't stray into technicalities or jargon。 Overall， a perfect entry point for those unfamiliar （and seasoned hands as well） on the topic of the Oliver Bullough provides a to-the-point summary of the myriad means the professional services industry in the UK enables money launderers， tax dodgers， kleptocratic rulers and criminals。 All of which， in general， harms the poorest nations on Earth or the most vulnerable people in society。 It is exceptionally told， with a winning balance of detail that doesn't stray into technicalities or jargon。 Overall， a perfect entry point for those unfamiliar （and seasoned hands as well） on the topic of the many ways Britain is one of the worst culprits in the provision of opaque， transparency-eradicating services to the rich， criminal or both。 The ease with which the author explains complex， historical financial ruses is a particular standout。 Early on， we hear about the Eurodollar - dollars that sit outside the US banking system so have various peculiar properties。 This is illustrated first in plain English: "The bankers identified a mismatch between the US and the UK and acted accordingly。 By basing themselves in London， they avoided US restrictions on how much interest they could pay; by using dollars， they avoided British restrictions on how much money they could move"。 Later on， Bullough mixes things up with an extremely apposite Schrödinger's cat simile - it is both a US dollar and not a US dollar at the same time。 This pattern of clear explanation and repetition of the key points in a particular scheme helps the reader through the intricacies of some of the chapters。 Another valuable tool the author uses is to draw broad themes out in chapters and refer throughout the book back to them。 This is not only helpful in focussing the mind， but really hammers home the （always） dispiriting points the author is trying to make。 None less so than the constant invocation that 'if we didn't do it [e。g。 reduce taxes in offshore territories; accept opaque shell company structures etc]， then someone else will'。 It is a familiar refrain it won't take long for the reader to stumble across in the media。So why not a 5 star review？ The author's blanket hostility to， effectively， our entire financial system can wear thin。 Sometimes， systems that are patently broken are manipulated by financiers to be able to achieve ends that are desirable。 No better example of this is given than Tanzania， where wealthy individuals not unreasonably ferreted their money out of the country via opaque structures after the ascent of Julius Nyerere。 As he ultimately instituted an African form of collectivisation called Ujumaa that wrecked the economy， getting out is presumably not an unreasonable thing to have done， but the author seems at times to disagree。 Elsewhere， the butler Britain analogy wears a little thin。 This is woven throughout the book via Jeeves & Wooster comparisons and serves a useful rhetorical purpose。 But by the end of the book， the author takes it a bit too far and acts as if this nebulous grouping of professional services firms and politicians is conscious of， or has agency in， its 'butler-ness': In Britain， butlering is almost invariably regarded as a source of jobs and wealth， because it is seen from the butlers' perspective rather than that of their clients or their victims 。。。 Britain no longer has an empire and is no longer in the business of stripping resources from the rest of the world so as to enrich itself。 But it is in the business of using the skills it learned while running an empire in order to help others do what it used to do， and earning a nice income from doing so。 Who is 'it' in the above？ Britain from a grammatical perspective， but conceptually this is some sort of vague merging of a whole range of institutions， systems， legal standards and so on。 The 'butler' is， in short， a fairly meaningless construct that outlives its purpose in the book。Such polemicising is， I believe， simply unnecessary。 It comes across as faintly ridiculous and just is not necessary。 Butler Britain， despite it's titular emphasis， does a brilliant job of demonstrating why the general public should be upset about all this stuff - and does not need such superlative rhetorical devices by the end of the book to convince the reader。 All in all， exceptionally worth a read but it would have been true 5-star material if it had stuck the landing。 。。。more
Jeff Kaye
，
Great follow-up to Moneyland， Butler to the World shows how Britain has become the cesspit of illicit financing and enablers that know that the paucity of oversight （by government） will benefit almost anyone that wants to deposit funds here （or in the wide arena of overseas territories and Crown Dependencies）。 They will gain from the army of accountants， lawyers， property experts， art dealers and a host of others that are geared to assist them grow richer and evade tax in a country that， far fro Great follow-up to Moneyland， Butler to the World shows how Britain has become the cesspit of illicit financing and enablers that know that the paucity of oversight （by government） will benefit almost anyone that wants to deposit funds here （or in the wide arena of overseas territories and Crown Dependencies）。 They will gain from the army of accountants， lawyers， property experts， art dealers and a host of others that are geared to assist them grow richer and evade tax in a country that， far from its grander historic exploits， seeks new depths to plunge。Oliver is a very good journalist and seeker after truth but even he seems continually surprised at how Brits bow before anyone with money。For a short time， I was privileged， as a Trustee， to sit on the same Board as Oliver in the anti-corruption NGO Spotlight on Corruption。 He is always searching for a better way to combat the massive under-funding of anti-fraud work and shows in the book how the best laws in the world would not work when such measly funds are provided to our policing agencies。 This is clearly the UK's cunning plan to ensure that we gain the money at the expense of our reputation。 Yet， even that is scewed as the subject is so complex that people in the UK do not understand the problem （if you loook at the main index of corruption， Transparency International Corruption Perception Index， it shows the UK to be combatting corruption， because it asks the wrong questions of the wrong people！） and don't care because many （maybe most） of the fraud hurts people outside the UK - in developing countries for example。Making changes that rectify the problems so well articulated is a constant battle and those changes （despite the Cameron push in 2015 that ended up nowhere） is mightily slow， but the UK needs to refashion itself。 Recent political events - Johnson and his lies to Parliament and beyond as an egregious example - show that the problem is now central to the UK， which has been grotesquely disfigured and careering to a spot in hell that Dante has so well described。 。。。more
GM
，
good intro to the "fall" of Britain - after WW2， unable to support the colonies， reparations etc。 how the different colonies （British Islands， Jersey。。。） started competing for business and "race to the bottom" but the British Gov considered it out of their scope overkill of the Butler metaphor good intro to the "fall" of Britain - after WW2， unable to support the colonies， reparations etc。 how the different colonies （British Islands， Jersey。。。） started competing for business and "race to the bottom" but the British Gov considered it out of their scope overkill of the Butler metaphor 。。。more
Alex Turnbull
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superbBoth an credible history and piece of investigative journalism which ends on an impassioned and quite patriotic note。 “Britain is better than that”。 Yes it should be。
Matthew Liu-Picchietti
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Very good。 I don't have enough fluency in banking or law to understand all of the nuance in this book， but the levels of shadiness are easy to see and understand。 Very good。 I don't have enough fluency in banking or law to understand all of the nuance in this book， but the levels of shadiness are easy to see and understand。 。。。more
Simon Mwangi
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A well-written account of what is wrong with current Britain with regard to facilitating financial crimes and how Britain can wean itself of the dangerous 'butler to the world' trait。 According to the author the Suez Crisis， way back in 1956 is the inflection point。 Maybe it is。 Question is， with Brexit now in place will Britain want to stop being a butler to the world？ If so what is at stake？ A well-written account of what is wrong with current Britain with regard to facilitating financial crimes and how Britain can wean itself of the dangerous 'butler to the world' trait。 According to the author the Suez Crisis， way back in 1956 is the inflection point。 Maybe it is。 Question is， with Brexit now in place will Britain want to stop being a butler to the world？ If so what is at stake？ 。。。more
Joan
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This book explains a lot about Britain -- and why so many oligarchs end up there。 It's an important book that helps explain the current situation， and the title is great but unfortunately -- it's boring。 There I've said it。 I know that nonfiction can be interesting， but this reads like a consultant's report。 This book explains a lot about Britain -- and why so many oligarchs end up there。 It's an important book that helps explain the current situation， and the title is great but unfortunately -- it's boring。 There I've said it。 I know that nonfiction can be interesting， but this reads like a consultant's report。 。。。more
Leszek Ciesielski
，
If you'd had the pleasure of following Oliver Bullough Kleptocracy walk through London， this is more of that， narrated in his own voice。Chapters on Ukraine oligarch's ties into London upper class （and Russian money laundering） are especially current right now - but so is， surprisingly， the chapter on Suez 1956 crysis。 If you'd had the pleasure of following Oliver Bullough Kleptocracy walk through London， this is more of that， narrated in his own voice。Chapters on Ukraine oligarch's ties into London upper class （and Russian money laundering） are especially current right now - but so is， surprisingly， the chapter on Suez 1956 crysis。 。。。more
Jake
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A forensic lens on the institutionalised financial services available to the super rich in Britain from an ascendancy that are concurrently complicit and complacent。 A disturbing perspective but combination of writing styles make it a tougher read at times。
Oliver
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This one was alright。 Decent introductory overview into a few dodgy parts of the financial system， like Eurodollars， the British Virgin Islands， Gibraltar， Scottish Limited Partnerships， the City of London。 But it's not as in-depth as I would have liked it to have been。 I didn't know Gibraltar had a socialist government though。 This one was alright。 Decent introductory overview into a few dodgy parts of the financial system， like Eurodollars， the British Virgin Islands， Gibraltar， Scottish Limited Partnerships， the City of London。 But it's not as in-depth as I would have liked it to have been。 I didn't know Gibraltar had a socialist government though。 。。。more
Gabriel Yuen
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The book began promisingly but it became increasingly hard to continue after the first third， because it offered little。 I believe a large amount of content can be researched or read online， and lots of the information in this book that the author probably believes will astound its readers - certainly did not astound me and such information are already presumed to be true anyway。Further， this book’s content is not aligned with its tagline on “how Britain helped” persons A， B， C。 I found the book The book began promisingly but it became increasingly hard to continue after the first third， because it offered little。 I believe a large amount of content can be researched or read online， and lots of the information in this book that the author probably believes will astound its readers - certainly did not astound me and such information are already presumed to be true anyway。Further， this book’s content is not aligned with its tagline on “how Britain helped” persons A， B， C。 I found the book focused more on how terrible the result of helping is， or how bad the respective choices or policies the UK made are。 。。。more
Vontel
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Good book to read， helps explain a lot of the intricacies of post-WW2 British changes in the financial world， which affect everyone & almost every country。Writing style is easy to read for a complex subject。 Unfortunately I had to do triage on the stack of library books， with several due within a day or two and in such demand that an extension after 2 weeks wasn't possible。 I read several of the first chapters， then the last chapter or two， to get an overall sense of the book & it's gravity。 Cer Good book to read， helps explain a lot of the intricacies of post-WW2 British changes in the financial world， which affect everyone & almost every country。Writing style is easy to read for a complex subject。 Unfortunately I had to do triage on the stack of library books， with several due within a day or two and in such demand that an extension after 2 weeks wasn't possible。 I read several of the first chapters， then the last chapter or two， to get an overall sense of the book & it's gravity。 Certainly a different view of financial， political & social history of post WW2 Britain than the main exposition often floated around。 Worth coming back to at a later date to read the details of the sections which I wasn't able to read。 。。。more
Maya Pardo
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This book is phenomenal- fascinating， well written， and well researched。 Bullough knows how to tell a story and make really complex issues understandable to a layperson。 Should be required reading for anyone in business or government！ Listened to the audiobook and he has a lovely speaking voice。
Oliver
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incredibly informative， horribly depressing
OjoAusana
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*received for free from netgalley for honest review* loved reading this！ very fascinating， learned a lot reading this。 would recommend and possibly reread。
Mike McCoy
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3。5。 An easy and quick intro to Britain's （and it's colonies'） place in offshore finance and related industries。 I enjoyed the vignettes that Bullough chose for each chapter。 However， it felt a little one sided at times。 I agree that 'someone else will just do it' isn't a great excuse for enabling bad behavior for a fee， but I'd like to have seen more discussion on why 'butlering' is in such high demand。 If Britain is to cut off the supply， other nations need more introspection on why they are g 3。5。 An easy and quick intro to Britain's （and it's colonies'） place in offshore finance and related industries。 I enjoyed the vignettes that Bullough chose for each chapter。 However， it felt a little one sided at times。 I agree that 'someone else will just do it' isn't a great excuse for enabling bad behavior for a fee， but I'd like to have seen more discussion on why 'butlering' is in such high demand。 If Britain is to cut off the supply， other nations need more introspection on why they are generating such a high desire for being 'butlered'。 Overall， the book is worth the read for those interested in the topic。 。。。more
Jamad
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Easy to read and very sobering
Susan
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Boy， did I learn a lot reading Butler to the World。 I had a general knowledge of Gibraltar， Jersey， Guernsey， The Caymans and The British Virgin Islands， the sort of awareness one gets from regular newspaper reading - limited， indeed。 Reading this well researched and very readable book was mind blowing。 As the world struggles these days with the pressures of Covid and war， the US on the brink and the top 1% rakes in the money hand over fist leaving the rest of us to fight for crumbs， there is a Boy， did I learn a lot reading Butler to the World。 I had a general knowledge of Gibraltar， Jersey， Guernsey， The Caymans and The British Virgin Islands， the sort of awareness one gets from regular newspaper reading - limited， indeed。 Reading this well researched and very readable book was mind blowing。 As the world struggles these days with the pressures of Covid and war， the US on the brink and the top 1% rakes in the money hand over fist leaving the rest of us to fight for crumbs， there is a group of oligarchs， et al who do whatever they darned well please。 Britain has found its place as the Jeeves who makes all of the nasty， ugly business possible。 No questions asked。 If questions are asked they are dealt with。As current as Putin and his invasion of Ukraine， much is explained about the current state of affairs and how it has come to pass。 On one hand I was fascinated while at the same time I was horrified。 I'm glad I read Butler to the world but it was depressing， knowing that there are people who will go to any lengths to amass money and power。 That Britain will continue to make it happen regardless of the harm it brings to the rest of the struggling people of this world。My thanks to the publisher St。 Martin's and to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review。 。。。more
Erin Cook
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The City's money don't jiggle jiggle， it folds（This is brilliant and scary） The City's money don't jiggle jiggle， it folds（This is brilliant and scary） 。。。more
Random Books with MJ
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Wow！ I had no idea how Britain was helping the global offshore economy。 This was such an informative and interesting book。 I love the correlations between the butlers of fiction and Britain as a butler。 It definitely provides a perspective that we should all be aware of。On top of the book itself， Bullough narrates it fabulously。 He has the perfect English accent to keep one listening， even if just to hear his voice。 Think of Hugh Grant narrating…need I say anything else？Bullough’s previous book Wow！ I had no idea how Britain was helping the global offshore economy。 This was such an informative and interesting book。 I love the correlations between the butlers of fiction and Britain as a butler。 It definitely provides a perspective that we should all be aware of。On top of the book itself， Bullough narrates it fabulously。 He has the perfect English accent to keep one listening， even if just to hear his voice。 Think of Hugh Grant narrating…need I say anything else？Bullough’s previous book Moneyland is going to the top of my audiobooks to listen to both for the content and the narration。 。。。more
Jesse
，
Thanks to NetGalley for the audiobook ARC！Butler to the World is a fascinating look at all of the many ways that Britain has become a facilitator for financial crimes。 The author is obviously very well versed on the subject and brings an appropriate amount of humor and levity to the weighty topic at hand。 I would highly recommend this to anyone interested in the topic of financial crime （so like everyone that's binging Ozark right now）。 Thanks to NetGalley for the audiobook ARC！Butler to the World is a fascinating look at all of the many ways that Britain has become a facilitator for financial crimes。 The author is obviously very well versed on the subject and brings an appropriate amount of humor and levity to the weighty topic at hand。 I would highly recommend this to anyone interested in the topic of financial crime （so like everyone that's binging Ozark right now）。 。。。more
Frank
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dbirdan
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