The Influence of Soros: Politics, Power, and the Struggle for an Open Society

Journalist Tamkin debuts with an unconventional yet fair-minded biography of the Hungarian-American investor and philanthropist, George Soros. Though Tamkin briskly sketches Soros’s life story—surviving the Holocaust, making a fortune on Wall Street, founding the philanthropic organization Open Society—she focuses on the moral and psychological implications of his choices and how anti-Semitism and resentment have fueled rumors about him. Pointing to Soros’s estimated $10 billion bet against the British pound in 1992, which helped push England out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism and caused “economic chaos,” Tamkin highlights tensions in his career as a financial speculator and his philanthropic efforts to foster democracy and promote equality around the world. She traces Soros’s political influence from the 1990s to the present, noting many instances in which he has drawn the ire of world leaders including Hungarian prime minister Victor Orbán, and documents allegations that he was responsible for the European migrant crisis in 2015 and protests against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh in 2018. Though newshounds will be familiar with a good deal of Tamkin’s rundown, she offers shrewd insights into the mechanisms by which a person can amass vast wealth and use it to effect change on a global scale. This judicious account cuts through the fog of conspiracy surrounding Soros. Agent: Noah Ballard, Curtis Brown, Ltd. (July)