Russ Crawford

Limit Up Russ Crawford

Hundreds of thousands of Soviet Union citizens unknowingly face imminent starvation as parched wheat crops wither in the Volga Plains during the drought of 1972. Mikhail Fisenko, a veteran Russian grain trader, must outwit US President Nixon's government and an oligopoly of powerful, sophisticated global grain trading firms to avoid one of the greatest disasters in Russian history. The lives of many people and his own career are at stake.

The suspenseful adventure delivers international intrigue, tracking the Soviet agent across the globe from Moscow to Minneapolis, Geneva to Memphis and Chicago to the plains of Eastern Europe as he strategizes, maneuvers and deals. Fisenko's fast-paced, high stakes quest includes dealings with many skilled veteran grain traders as well as an aspiring Cargill Inc. rookie, Jim McCrea, as he negotiates the largest grain deal in history - without bankrupting his national treasury.

Wheat trade becomes the new "battlefield" in the midst of the Soviet/American Cold War conflict, as the Russian attempts to secretly negotiate the largest deal in commodity trading history. This single, seminal event, later coined as the "Great Grain Robbery", changed global food prices forever.