"We had a chance at paradise. Then I watched it all burn. Lies. Secrets. Shadows. Blood. My world is filled with these things. I thought I knew how to navigate them. I was wrong. And it's about to cost me everything. My empire is crumbling, because I made the same mistakes my father did. But it's not just riches I'm losing. It's also the only chance I ever had at happiness. My woman... Our son...They are the last things left that matter to me. I'll sacrifice everything to save them. My only question is...Will that be enough?"--page 4 of cover.

"I found my angel. Then I broke her wings. Alexis should've never set foot in my world. Men like me stain girls like her. We take their innocence and tear it to shreds. She thinks she's tough. She thinks she can handle me. But she doesn't know just how deep my darkness goes. It was for the best that I claimed her for a night and left her behind. Anything more than that would have been cruel. I thought I'd seen the last of Alexis Wright. So imagine my surprise two years later when the door to my office opens...And she walks in. The girl I ravaged. The girl I devoured. Now that's she's in front of me again, I have just two questions for her: First--what is she doing here? And second...What does she mean, 'our baby'?" -- page 4 of cover.

Answering the calls made to overcome methodological nationalism, this volume is the first examination of the links between corruption and imperial rule in the modern world. It does so through a set of original studies that examine the multi-layered nature of corruption in four different empires (Great Britain, Spain, the Netherlands and France) and their possessions in Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America and Africa. It offers a key read for scholars interested in the fields of corruption, colonialism/empire and global history. The chapters ‘Introduction: Corruption, Empire and Colonialism in the Modern Era: Towards a Global Perspective’, ‘“Corrupt and rapacious”: Colonial Spanish-American past through the eyes of early nineteenth century contemporaries. A contribution from the history of emotions’, and ‘Colonial Normativity? Corruption in the Dutch-Indonesian Relationship in the Nineteenth and Early-Twentieth Centuries’ are Open Access under a CC BY 4.0 license at link.springer.com.

"I made her my queen. Then she smashed her crown. Alexis was nothing... until I made her my everything. My queen. My world. My sun and my stars. But just when I thought I could trust her, my tiger showed her true stripes She ran from me. And took our infant son with her. Some sins are unforgivable--and nobody takes what's mine. I will find her. Reclaim her. And then I will ensure that she can never leave me again" -- page 4 of cover.

Empire of Corruption is Vladimir Soloviev’s attempt to share his opinions on Russia’s ways of dealing with corruption. With a certain irony, Soloviev calls the issue ‘the Russian national pastime’, explaining why in the country where everyone is supposedly fighting corruption, corruption still rules. The author’s detailed research into the corruption structure in Russia, with concrete examples and historical references, is now available to the reader in the English language. Soloviev goes further than just talking about the basics of this evil phenomenon; the author suggests a method, a personal path each citizen of Russia may follow to avert corruption in their country. Vladimir Soloviev is a famous Russian journalist, TV and radio host and public figure. His career began after graduating from one of Russia’s main institutes of technology and obtaining a PhD degree in economics. At first, he taught science in high school, then spent two years teaching economics at Alabama State University. Upon his return to Russia, Soloviev went into business. Since the late 1990s he has been a popular host on Russian radio and television, has worked in the theatre and in cinematography, has led corporate training, and has given many lectures. Soloviev’s bibliography consists of more than two dozen titles on the hottest topics in modern Russian society.

Through most of the 20th century, Atlantic City, New Jersey, was controlled by a powerful partnership of local politicians and racketeers. Funded by payoffs from gambling rooms, bars and brothels, this corrupt alliance reached full bloom during the reign of Enoch 'Nucky' Johnson - the second of the three bosses to head the Republican machine that dominated city politics and society. In Boardwalk Empire, Nucky Johnson, Louis 'the Commodore' Kuehnle, Frank 'Hap' Farley, and Atlantic City itself spring to life in all their garish splendour. Author Nelson Johnson traces 'AC' from its birth as a quiet seaside health resort, through the corruption, notorious backroom politics and power struggles, to the city's rebirth as an international entertainment and gambling mecca where anything goes. Boardwalk Empire is the true story that inspired the epic HBO series starring Steve Buscemi, Michael Pitt and Kelly Macdonald. 'As good, if not better, than the television series' Independent

They say Cyrus Reed is ruthless. That he rules the underworld with an iron fist. A criminal. A murderer. A monster.He controlled fortunes and amassed empires.Our paths should never have crossed, but one poker game intertwined our fate. I woke up stranded on his island. Trapped.Forced to play a dangerous game of hate and lust.He said he took me to protect me. That he was saving me. But who will save me from him?

#1 New York Times Bestseller! Peter Schweizer has been fighting corruption—and winning—for years. In Throw Them All Out, he exposed insider trading by members of Congress, leading to the passage of the STOCK Act. In Extortion, he uncovered how politicians use mafia-like tactics to enrich themselves. And in Clinton Cash, he revealed the Clintons’ massive money machine and sparked an FBI investigation. Now he explains how a new corruption has taken hold, involving larger sums of money than ever before. Stuffing tens of thousands of dollars into a freezer has morphed into multibillion-dollar equity deals done in the dark corners of the world. An American bank opening in China would be prohibited by US law from hiring a slew of family members of top Chinese politicians. However, a Chinese bank opening in America can hire anyone it wants. It can even invite the friends and families of American politicians to invest in can’t-lose deals. President Donald Trump’s children have made front pages across the world for their dicey transactions. However, the media has barely looked into questionable deals made by those close to Barack Obama, Joe Biden, John Kerry, Mitch McConnell, and lesser-known politicians who have been in the game longer. In many parts of the world, the children of powerful political figures go into business and profit handsomely, not necessarily because they are good at it, but because people want to curry favor with their influential parents. This is a relatively new phenomenon in the United States. But for relatives of some prominent political families, we may already be talking about hundreds of millions of dollars. Deeply researched and packed with shocking revelations, Secret Empires identifies public servants who cannot be trusted and provides a path toward a more accountable government.

Its nickname was the Bank of Crooks and Criminals, but BCCI was much more than just a dirty bank. Started by a shadowy group of Pakistani financiers and Arab sheiks, the Bank of Credit and Commerce International quickly became a global criminal organization. Now two award-winning journalists who have tracked BCCI for a decade reveal how these wolves escaped prosecution for so long and detail the roles of Jimmy Carter, William Casey, and members of the Bush administration and family. 8 pages of photos.

John Perkins’ controversial and bestselling exposé, Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, revealed for the first time the secret world of economic hit men (EHMs). But Perkins’ Confessions contained only a small piece of this sinister puzzle. The full story is far bigger, deeper, and darker than Perkins’ personal account revealed. Here other EHMs, journalists, and investigators join Perkins to tell their own stories, providing the first probing and expansive look into this pervasive web of systematic corruption. With chapters spotlighting how specific countries around the globe have been subverted, A Game As Old As Empire uncovers the inner workings of the institutions behind these economic manipulations. The contributors detail concrete examples of how the “economic hit man game” is still being played: an officer of an offshore bank hiding hundreds of millions of dollars in stolen money, IMF advisers slashing Ghana’s education and health programs, a mercenary defending a European oil company in Nigeria, a consultant rewriting Iraqi oil law, and executives financing warlords to secure supplies of coltan ore in Congo. Together they show how this system of corruption and plunder operates in real life, and reveal the price that the rest of the world must pay as a result. Most important, A Game As Old As Empire connects the dots, showing how the various pieces of this system come together to create the world’s first truly global empire.