A book about life, work and travel in Russia
The inspiration for “Caviar, Vodka and Tears” were the seven and half years I spent living and working in Russia, from 2008-9 and 2013-19. It was a period that profoundly marked me and my family, as we fell in love with the country and its people, though not its government. The book describes the joy of living in the Russia and the difficulties of trying to do business there, against the background of the country’s transition to autocracy and its worsening relations with the West.
Over my time in Russia I became fluent in the language and made many friends, allowing me to better understand the Russians’ perspectives on Putin and world events. These views were usually very different to the accepted “truth” back in the West. At first I often rather agreed with the Russian perspective, but as Putin’s vision of the world became increasingly paranoid, I was shocked by how quickly the constant state propaganda turned a possibly justified sense of injustice into outright hostility to the West and majority support for Russia’s actions in Ukraine.
As well as meeting many ordinary Russians, my work on major projects in the energy industry allowed me to meet the top leadership of Russia’s largest companies, and observe how Putin’s changing view of the world affected their decisions and thinking. At first western companies were welcomed , but progressively they became seen as a sometimes necessary evil who could bring in the technology the country needed. From 2015 onwards, transferring this technology into Russia to make it “sanctions proof” became a key objective of Russia’s CEOs.
Whilst I struggled to do business in Russia, my family and I lived life to the full and travelled extensively. We had many unique experiences, that could probably have happened only in Russia, such as being baptised under the frozen Moscow River in January, being forced to ride a horse around central St Petersburg at 2 a.m, and fleeing a raging forest fire in Siberia. These adventures provided moments of light relief in a darkening political and business landscape.
Who is this book for?
This book will entertain and inform
- Anyone who has worked in big companies and suffered the ups and downs of corporate life
- Western readers looking to better understand the origins of Russia’s hostility towards the West and its actions in Ukraine
- Russian readers wanting to know how a foreigner sees them.
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Caviar, Vodka and Tears 