"Offshore is an exploration of perhaps the most mysterious aspect of global society today: the shadowy, semi-legal realm of offshore banking and finance. The world of "offshore" is one of dummy companies, secret bank accounts, tricky foreign registries, and the like, which allow giant corporations - such as Wal-Mart, BP, and Citigroup - to keep huge profits out of sight of investors, regulators, and the public." "Trained as a reporter and a private investigator, William Brittain-Catlin brings the skills of both fields to this book. He tells the story of how tax havens have become central to global finance today; in so doing, he takes us into the secret operations of Enron and Parmalat, behind international trade disputes, and into organized crime and terror networks, providing evidence that, through offshore practices, the key value of capitalism and civilization alike - freedom - is being put in grave danger."--BOOK JACKET.

Includes index.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [241]-254) and index.

View table of contents on the Internet via the World Wide Web.

1. Our offshore world 2. The offshore corporation 3. The offshore interior 4. Offshore freedom, onshore control

5. Interlude : the secret realm 6. Offshore heaven, offshore hell 7. The politics of offshore 8. Coda : the ruins of offshore.