The idea for this book came about by the way. Oliver Bullough, who had previously written a book on the super-rich and corruption, tried to make it clear to an American interlocutor that there is no powerful law enforcement agency in England that takes action against international money laundering. Because his counterpart remained skeptical, Bullough blurted out: Britain was like a butler, serving the rich from all over the world. From Great Britain as a butler, it was only a small step for Bullough to the canon of British literature. Namely, to P. G. Wodehouse and his characters Jeeves and Wooster. One is a gentleman, the other is a clever, snooty, completely amoral butler who solves all the problems for him. This servant Jeeves is well known in Great Britain, and with him there was an opportunity for Bullough to hold up a mirror to the British.

The result is a book that adds an ugly dimension to ideas of the fine English kind. On the one hand, Bullough says the upper class is just as distinguished, sophisticated, casual, humorous and cash-strapped as its reputation. But on the other hand, it is also uniquely unscrupulous. It was already at the time of the Empire. When Britain ruled a quarter of the world, it appropriated its riches in a remarkably clever way. Brutality was seen as rather impractical, but this did not contradict the basic tolerance of injustice and the willingness to discreetly look aside when things got ugly. According to Bullough, it is this combination of suppleness and moral flexibility that predestines Britain for the role of butler.

The changing governments in London looked the other way

In a historical chapter at the beginning of the book, the author traces the fall of the Empire. In the context of the Suez crisis in 1956, when the British finally lost control of world trade, he quotes the American Secretary of State Dean Acheson: "Britain has lost a world empire and has not yet found a new role."

But Bullough disagrees. At that time, the financial heart of the Empire, the City of London, had long been in the process of reorienting itself and opened up a new business area with the invention of the Eurodollar. Bullough describes how, from then on, the City served the world's super-rich and criminals with the disappearance of untaxed capital. Overseas territories such as Gibraltar and the British Virgin Islands have also reinvented themselves as a paradise for shell companies, money launderers and tax avoiders.

Even Scotland began to use old-fashioned loopholes in its legislation to launder money. The changing governments in London always looked the other way, writes Bullough, did nothing and justified it with the classic excuse that capital would find loopholes elsewhere. Now there are many countries that are trying to outdo each other with ever better conditions for opaque riches. But only Britain can offer its butler services with unprecedented elegance. "So much quintessentially British," Bullough writes, "the history, the traditions, the humour and the institutions, have become a costume for the country's elites to wear as they scour the world for new clients."

Navel gazing and enlightenment

Bullough describes an impressive example of the relevant compliance of the British upper class with regard to the Ukrainian oligarch and Putin friend Dmytro Firtash. He was a fixture in London's high society, courted as a benefactor by the University of Cambridge, valued as a consultant by the British Foreign Office – and he had just bought a disused underground station in Knightsbridge for £53 million when he was arrested in Austria at the request of the FBI. There he is still awaiting extradition to the USA.

When "At the Service of the World" was published in the original English language a year ago, the book made waves in Great Britain. Russia had just invaded Ukraine. The West imposed sanctions, and London could not help but take a closer look at who it had served for decades with its bankers, lawyers, boarding schools, real estate agents and other luxury service providers in exchange for high commissions. Stories about Londongrad made the rounds. Bullough's book made an important contribution to navel-gazing and enlightenment.

In the meantime, the stories are known, but nevertheless the book still enriches the understanding of current events. Because at first glance it seems contradictory that Britain took the side of the Ukrainians faster and more decisively than any other Western country. Weren't rich Russians still his best customers? But when one reads Bullough's remarks, the supposed contradiction dissolves. Because a good butler is as unscrupulous as he is light-footed. He serves His Lord only as long as it serves His own interest. And when the wind turns, it does.

Oliver Bullough: "At the service of the world". How Britain became the butler of oligarchs, kleptocrats, tax evaders and criminals. Translated from English by S. Schmid and R. Gravert. Antje Kunstmann Verlag, Munich 2023. 272 p., born, 26,– €.