Putin and the Rise of Russia

by Michael Stuermer

An expert contemporary analysis of Vladimir Putin, his policies, and his key role in shaping a resurgent Russia's new role in world affairs. When the Soviet Union collapsed, the world was left wondering about its destiny. In spite of the losses incurred, Russia is still a power with vast military inventories and an energy giant whose oil reserves will last, at present rates of exploitation, for more than 30 years, and with natural gas for more than 180 years. Questions abound as to what constitutes Russia’s national interest; especially now, as a result of the conflict in South Ossetia. With Vladimir Putin no longer President, many Russians fear instability and insecurity. But the outside world, too, keeps wondering what will happen next. It is a defining moment for Russia, with far-reaching implications for the rest of the world.

Michael Stuermer has observed at close quarters the former president as he steered his country out of the chaos of the post-Yeltsin years. His authoritative new history of modern Russia considers the future for a country striving to be, once again, a great power with global reach. 26 black-and-white illustrations

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Politics, Russia, Biography, Russian History

272 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 2008

Reviews

[Andrei Stoian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Romanian review: Principala, aș spune chiar singura, problemă a acestei cărți este că a fost publicată în 2008. Prin urmare, și-a pierdut o parte din actualitate, deoarece, în multe privințe, autorul putea doar să speculeze în ce privește politica Rusiei. De altfel, Michael Stürmer discută de multe ori despre cât de învăluită în mister este politica Rusiei, menționând chiar și un citat al lui Winston Churchill: ,,Rusia este o ghicitoare, înfășurată într-un mister, în interiorul unei enigme; dar este o cheie”.
Politica Rusiei este atât de bizară pentru specialiști, încât aceștia ajung să se întrebe dacă Rusia chiar are o viziune politică reală și în ce constă această. Asta te face și mai mult să râzi când auzi ,,analiștii politici" de la colț de bloc cum îți explică ei situația geopolitică actuală.
Cu excepția acestei probleme a actualității, cartea reprezintă o analiză pertinentă și, la prima vedere, lipsită de prejudecăți a situației geopolitice a Rusiei.
Deși am citit cartea aceasta (pe care o aveam de mulți ani în casă) cu intenția de a înțelege mai bine conflictul actual din Ucraina, nu vreau să discut prea mult despre controversatul război actual, ci vreau mai degrabă să vorbesc despre Rusia în general— cum își dorește să pară și cum este de fapt— bazându-mă pe informațiile din carte. Unele dintre ele poate nu mai sunt actuale, dar nu cred că lucrurile s-au schimbat major.
Pe scurt, Rusia este o țară mult mai instabilă și mai puțin puternică decât încearcă să pară. Chiar și temuta armată a Rusiei este subfinanțată comparativ cu cea a Statelor Unite— armamentul nuclear este practic singurul as din mâneca Rusiei. Instabilitatea are la bază dependența uriașă— mult prea mare pentru o țară care se vrea a fi superputere— a Rusiei de prețul petrolului și al gazelor naturale. O scădere a prețului barilului de petrol poate, și a și cauzat, crize economice serioase în Rusia. Economia Rusiei se bazează fundamental pe industria energetică și cea de armament, iar, în rest, Federația Rusă importă majoritatea bunurilor de care are nevoie.
Această imagine a lui Putin de om politic capabil care a adus prosperitatea economică a Rusiei este o imagine creată oarecum artificial. Putin a beneficiat foarte mult de faptul că a ajuns la conducerea țării într-un moment în care prețul petrolului și al gazelor a crescut, iar populația a asociat creșterea economică cu stabilitatea adusă de Putin.
Cu toate că Putin este categoric un politician mult mai capabil decât mulți dintre predecesorii lui, principiile sale morale sunt deplorabile— cel puțin este clar cât de puțin preț pune pe valoarea vieții umane. Asta nu schimbă faptul că, citind această carte, este greu să pui decizile sale actuale pe baza nebuniei despre care discută mult masele. Putin pare că știe ce face, iar acea teorie cum că ar vrea să refacă granițele fostului URSS mi se pare fantezistă.
Acum, cei drept, este greu de știut ce gândește cu adevărat, iar toți oamenii care vorbesc la televizor de parcă ar deține puteri telepatice au mai mult ca scop să mențină ratingurile ridicate și mai puțin să informeze populația.
Cu toate că, în acest moment, au trecut 14 ani de la scrierea cărții, deci este posibil ca unele lucruri să se fi schimbat— adică, la acel moment, Putin afirma ferm că nu dorește un al treilea mandat și că Rusia nu trebuie să depindă de un singur om și se purtau discuții despre ce schimbări va aduce succesorul său, Dmitri Medvedev, pentru politica țării— în prezent, Putin este deja la al patrulea mandat și este eligibil și pentru următoarea campanie electorală. Este clar că Rusia se confruntă cu multe din aceleași probleme, mai exact: un grad ridicat de corupție, lipsă de specialiști, dependența față de vest în ceea ce privește progresul tehnologic, dependența față de industria energetică, îmbătrânirea populației rusești și creșterea populației musulmane, care se preconizează că o va depăși pe cea creștină până la sfârșitul secolului.
Este clar că există multe interese atât din partea Statelor Unite ale Americii, cât și din partea Federației Ruse. Este o ,,luptă" pentru influență și, din păcate, nu trăim într-o lume ideală în care nicio țară nu depinde de alta și colaborarea dintre state se face pe picior de egalitate. Dar, cu siguranță, așa cum susținea și Michael Stürmer în 2008, o colaborare între Occident și Rusia ar fi mult mai benefică pentru omenire decât situația actuală.



English review: The main, and I would even say the only, issue with this book is that it was published in 2008. As a result, it has lost some of its relevance since, in many areas, the author could only speculate about Russia’s political trajectory. Michael Stürmer frequently discusses how shrouded in mystery Russian politics is, even quoting Winston Churchill’s famous line: “Russia is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma; but it is a key.”
Russia’s politics are so puzzling to experts that they often question whether the country truly has a coherent political vision and, if so, what that vision entails. This makes it even more amusing when “armchair political analysts” confidently explain the current geopolitical situation.
Setting aside the question of the book’s timeliness, it offers a well-grounded and seemingly unbiased analysis of Russia’s geopolitical situation.
Although I initially picked up this book (which had been sitting on my shelf for years) to better understand the current conflict in Ukraine, I’d rather not dwell too much on the controversial ongoing war. Instead, I want to discuss Russia in general—how it seeks to appear versus how it actually is—based on the information provided in the book. While some details may no longer be current, I don’t believe the fundamental dynamics have changed significantly.
In short, Russia is far more unstable and less powerful than it tries to appear. Even its feared military is underfunded compared to that of the United States—nuclear weapons are essentially Russia’s only ace. This instability is rooted in its massive dependency—far too large for a self-proclaimed superpower—on oil and gas prices. A drop in oil prices can, and has, triggered severe economic crises in Russia. The country’s economy is fundamentally reliant on the energy and arms industries, while the rest of its needs are largely met through imports.
Putin’s image as a competent leader who brought economic prosperity to Russia is somewhat artificially constructed. He greatly benefited from taking office at a time when oil and gas prices were on the rise, leading the population to associate economic growth with the stability Putin seemed to bring.
While Putin is undoubtedly a much more capable politician than many of his predecessors, his moral principles are deplorable—his disregard for human life is particularly evident. Nonetheless, reading this book, it’s hard to attribute his current decisions to madness, as many people claim. He appears to know exactly what he’s doing. The theory that he aims to reestablish the borders of the former USSR strikes me as fanciful.
That said, it’s difficult to truly know what Putin is thinking, and much of the commentary on television seems designed more to drive ratings than to genuinely inform the public.
Although 14 years have passed since the book was written, and some things may have changed—for instance, at the time, Putin stated firmly that he would not seek a third term and emphasized that Russia must not rely on a single leader, with discussions centered on what Dmitry Medvedev, his successor, would bring to Russian politics—today, Putin is already serving his fourth term and is eligible for yet another campaign. Clearly, Russia is still grappling with many of the same problems: rampant corruption, a lack of specialists, dependency on the West for technological progress, reliance on the energy industry, an aging population, and a growing Muslim population that is projected to surpass the Christian population by the end of the century.
It’s evident that both the United States and Russia have vested interests. There is an ongoing “battle” for influence, and unfortunately, we don’t live in an ideal world where nations operate independently and collaboration happens on equal terms. However, as Michael Stürmer argued back in 2008, a partnership between the West and Russia would undoubtedly be far more beneficial for humanity than the current state of affairs.

[Jacob Aitken]

This is a good biography. It is a fair biography. And the fact that it is written by someone connected with an anti-Putin institution like Harvard University is even more remarkable. Fair analyses on Putin are hard to come by. Most of the West, be it neo-conservatives or neo-liberals, believe Putin is Satan incarnate. His Russian nationalist admirers believe he is King Arthur resurrected. So which is it?

Stuermer is an economically-oriented German political scientist. Technically, he is anti-Putin, but he also understands the moves Putin makes. As a German, he knows that his country can't openly oppose Putin's Russia. He knows that to best work with Putin, one must understand him and to a degree, sympathize with him.

Yes, it is true that Putin is former KGB, but there is more to the story. Most of the KGB officers weren't the bad guys from James Bond films. Nor where they the Gestapo-like men who would drag innocent children away from Church. Yes, that happened but that's not the whole story. In any case, that's not what Putin did. Putin worked with Securities in East Germany. He became a Colonel in the KGB because he thought he could protect Russian from future threats. He didn't work to "spread the gospel of Marx."

Putin's position gave him a good view of how Soviet economics was collapsing, and if the situation allowed, how to rebuilld Russia.

Stuermer's analysis of Putin's Russia is mainly focused on the triumph and difficulties of Petrodollars, with a minor emphasis on PetroPolitics. After Putin stabilized Russia in the early 2000's, he tapped into arguably the largest oil and natural gas reserves in the world. Russia became rich overnight. The problem, though, is that while Russia has political leverage with oil, other countries have to want to buy from Russia. And if other countries don't/won't buy from Russia, her oil becomes useless. This forces Putin to look for a more science-based economy in the future.

Putin's most important moment was a speech in 2007. He warned the West that NATO's days of playing God are over. The West cannot give international law the middle finger anymore. The unlawful bombing of Serbia will have consequences. If the West can defy international law, so Putin argues, who is the West to criticize Putin's Russia on "human rights" violations? Stuermer, a Westerner, realizes the challenge and concedes the point to Putin.

Stuermer makes some interesting observations. While Russia lost millions of citizens and key military hardware in the breakup of the Soviet Union, it had the positive effect of removing a lot of potentially dangerous Muslim radicals from Russian territory.

Cons with the book:
Like any modern-day political biography, this book became dated in about 6 months. In our society events happen to quickly. A lot of Stuermer's observation, therefore, are either wrong or irrelevant. Russia's birthrate is not as drastic as it was 5 years ago. That tired old canard simply won't work anymore. Russia was able to ride the recent economic crisis fairly smoothly. Stuermer criticized Russia for having troops in hot places like Moldova, Ukraine, and Georgia, but doesn't NATO and the US have troops in every country in the world? This criticism is unfair.

All in all, this is a good and fair book.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Former President Vladimir Vladimirovitch Putin now Prime Minister and in line for President again if current President Dmitry Medvedev somehow vacates the office advocates Russian democracy in the form of what he terms "the vertical of power." A Hobbesian form of government styled from Thomas Hobbes, a British Philosopher and author of a famous political theory in the 17th century. For Putin rule emanates from above by an elite intelligentsia applying an enlightened autocracy on the incapable masses.

Dmitry Medvedev is not quite embracing Putin's "sovereign democracy" but he does not appear to be anything more than Putin's puppet and Putin could run for President again sometime in the future.

[Alina Ioana · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very detailed description of the recent past, the present and the future Russia, taking into consideration Putin's political convictions. The soviet Russia, its creation and most of all its dissolution and how it has affected Russia and its later to be president, in those times KGB agent. Russia during Putin administration- mending the errors of the past. Future Russia- Has Russia changed? Can Russia change? In what manner did Putin inspire Russia's future?
Moreover the book's author is a very respected historian, who saw the ex KGB agent, afterwards president of the Russian Federation in a new light. The biography is neither a praise nor a criticism.

[Amit · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just wanted to know very well about this president, why is he much recognize and most popular before all the other leader around the world. Yes I’ve already read two books about him and that was my 3rd. But I think after reading this particular book I’ve learn enough to know about this most powerful leader Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin...

It’s a long story to describe. In Russians history from Yeltsin’s time till now! Only one and only Putin the name that changed the entire face of Russia...

You can’t define Russia in an word or two! It is difficult, unpredictable. There’s obviously something eternal, unreachable fact about this Motherland that always can put you In a mystery world...

Russia had a rich history, culture and had a long journey of struggling past. Fascinating the word of course define itself...

It’s until Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin came and guide his Motherland in the right way by fighting all the crisis. There are plenty more things that yet to need to resolve of Russia...

Of course there are failure moment’s too in Putin’s era, some moments where the president must have to be responsible for but among all he is the man for Russia for sure or without any doubt. It’s because of him Russia finally gain the level to being a high respected nation...

Now I know why sometime he forced to sleep only 4 to 5 hours a day. If he slows down everything slows down and thereby in a fear fact Russia might go to its dark past background...

But Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin the name will never let it happen again for his Motherland till the last breath of his life. The conclusion is –

PUTIN means RUSSIA,
RUSSIA means PUTIN…

1. It was clear beyond the slightest doubt that Putin, sitting in the front row, did not have to ask any one for approval of the speech he was to deliver, let alone for permission to outline the future course of Russia’s relations with the West in general and the United States in particular. Putin was clearly in control - not only of the next thirty or so minutes but of Russia’s foreign and security affairs.

When Putin mounted the rostrum, he showed no emotion except cold resolve. He spoke in a low-key voice, with sparse body language, his emotions carefully disciplined and controlled. Of course he spoke in Russian. The conference’s tradition, he warned his listeners with a whiff of sarcasm, ‘allows me to avoid excessive politeness’.

2. In our conversation Ivanov stated, on the record, that whatever the Americans were planning to put into the Czech Republic and Poland, would be - ‘if, God forbid, a confrontation should occur’ - no match for Russia’s superior missile forces. Here spoke the man responsible for Russian defence, and he was obviously out of sync with the alarmist version soon after to be promoted by the President.

3. At the height of the crisis on 25 July 1998 Putin was, unexpectedly for the outside world, appointed head of the FSB, the Federal Intelligence Service from which he had come and where he had his personal and ideological roots. He was now in a key position, but far from safe, and his future was anything but assured. He owed too much to Yeltsin, whose rule was visibly in decline and would in any case end soon, and with it the good fortune of all those associated with the democratic tsar.

4. ‘I noticed, with an unvoluntary pity, that the Tsar cannot smile with his eyes and his mouth at the same time.’ - Marquis de Custine, Journey for Our Time.

5. Vladimir Vladimirovich greeted each guest with a handshake and that discerning look straight into the eyes that he had obviously taken from his former incarnation as an intelligence officer. Putin’s guarded manner, his head always a little bent and his eyes looking upwards, does not give away much of the man and his feelings. But he wants to know, at once, everything about the person he is talking to.

6. In Russian mythology the Tsar cannot and will not take sides. He is above everything mundane, answering only to Mother Russia and to those heavenly forces represented by the gilt St Andrew crosses scraping the sky over the Kremlin - while piercing the defeated Islamic crescent underneath.

7. it was the only time that Putin made a personal reference. ‘Russia,’ he said, ‘has always been a very religious country. Since the seventeenth century my father’s family has lived in a village not far from Moscow. Only recently the church registers yielded the information that my forebears had always attended church and visited the confessional.’

8. Talking with the Russian President is an experience like none other. He is self-assured. There is no notetaker, let alone an advisor who might from time to time intervene. Putin is proud not only of his sporting achievements but also of the facts and figures he has at his fingertips. He is the man for the big picture, but also for anecdotal evidence, putting every little detail into the wider context, especially when it comes to oil and gas and pipelines.

9. Putin was asked how he controlled corruption, and his answer was, by any standards, a blunt one: ‘Unsuccessfully. We are addressing the issue without success… . In a transitional economy and during the restructuring of an entire political system dealing with such issues is more difficult because unfortunately there is no response from civil society to us… . We must speak frankly and openly admit that we have not worked out a system that encourages social control of the activities of public institutions.’

10. ‘What is Russia? Russia is the country where one can do the greatest things for the most insignificant results.’ - Marquis de Custine, Journey for Our Time.

11. ‘My home is not the house and the street, my home is the Soviet Union’ - a favourite song of the Sixties that still remains popular. Soviet man could not replace ordinary people, and Soviet ideology could not wipe out the longing for nationhood, the tribe, the clan. Indeed, throughout the Central Asian republics as much as in Ukraine it was never forgotten, until the end of the Soviet Union, that they had been the first nations to be victimized.

12. the truth is, as Dmitri Trenin put it, ‘Russia’s business is Russia itself.’ Power and property are, ironically more than anywhere in the West, one and the same. This is also underlined by the fact, reassuring up to a point, that the people who run Russia are also the people who own much of Russia. Post-imperial Russia on its way to becoming a nation state drums up greatness and Russian nationalism, but it is among the least ideological countries of the world, with plenty of natural resources to export but no ideology to match.

[Mariana Aleixo · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.7 ⭐️
Dou esta pontuação não por achar que é um livro mau, mas porque não estando eu habituada a ler este tipo de livro, senti alguma dificuldade em lê-lo. Demorei bastante tempo porque tive de alternar a sua leitura com a leitura de outros, dado a complexidade do livro, apresentado muitos pormenores e factos especificos. Como é um livro muito denso, achei por vezes o texto confuso, tendo de voltar atrás para reler novamente, de modo a perceber o que se tentava transmitir.
No geral o livro foi razoalmente interessante, onde fiquei a saber coisas sobre a Rússia que não sabia, seja relativamente a política interna ou externa, mas também acerca do Putin e da sua vida politica inicial. (O livro é de 2007 daí dizer inicial)
Não dou uma pontuação mais elevada porque apesar de ser razoavelmente interessante não é um livro que me prenda e que queira ler tudo de seguida.
A temática é interessante sem duvida, daí a minha iniciativa em lê-lo, contudo, o texto poderia ter sido escrito de outra forma de modo a prender o leitor.
É "curioso" que já o autor alertava para o perigo que a adesão da Ucrânia à NATO poderia constituir e que graves consequências traria, seja para o próprio país, para a Rússia e para a NATO.

[Puwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Putinism is an unwritten constitution that belongs to the Russian Federation, In the post-era of the Soviet Union, the country remains enormous power with destiny. President Putin’s style is unique one incident I would like to mention here that he attended the “Munich Security Conference” when Pes. Putin mounted the rostrum, he showed no emotion spoke in a low voice, with spare body language with his mother tong and he warned his listeners “allow me to avoid expressive politeness”.

Who is Mr. Putin? On secret service, nothing hidden, everything is known. “Was he communist?” “Yes, up to a point” grew up as patriotic young Russian, the realized that communist rule had ruined the country, he disassociated his loved communist rule, his dream was to deliver a more powerful Russia what he calls “the vertical of power”. His vision is not a soviet renaissance but an administration that would recognize as akin to a rational, hierarchic system of lasting power.

The author Michael Stuermer’s immense work in this book of the post-Soviet and the terms of Putin’s presidency and continue to be in power introducing the tutor his master student Dmitry Medvedev. The power transformation is not the substance of an election, the author tries to show the contradiction between the strong and fragile state between the captive mind and the free.

Putin’s approach in public used the American style of action, speech including custom and costume. The wisdom that the president focuses on the reformation of oil and gas wealth, money into infrastructure, pensions, or wages without meltdown the two-figure inflation. Putin became the uncrowned king of the kremlin. We need no opposition “who is not for us is against us”, as far as my understanding the above slogan marginally moves into the gray area of the true democracy of the rule. The author is mentioned “A country without friends”, Russia the lone wolf. And whatever Russian and the West the question is still remain on their political agenda in terms of the global vision, economy, defense, and foreign policies, however, it’s a matter of time to be decided who will be the superpower. Thanks a lot to my Superstar friend Yasodhara Kapuge who is shaping and molding my political knowledge through lending many good politics books.

[Leo Passi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent book, especially reading it after the onset of the Russian invasion of the Ukraine. Curious to know a little more about the author, I Googled him and read his bio on Wikipedia. I was surprised and a little disappointed to read that he is best known for his "admiring" view of Vladamir Putin in the publication under discussion.

It is really a slight on the author to be portrayed in such a light. If anything, he might be criticised for being overly optimistic regarding the re-integration of Russia into the existing world order post the fall of the USSR. However, writing in the first decade of this millennium, there was cause for optimism and caution in equal measure. I think he does an excellent job in his historical analysis and creating a balanced critique of both Putin and the Russian state. Indeed, on the second from last page he writes, quite presciently (c2007), that:

Today, a new Great Game is taking shape. ​The new rules​, however, ​a​re not fixed. The new players are inexperienced​, ignoring at their own peril - and at the peril of everyone else - the rules they learned so painfully during the period of the Great Confrontation. The so-called "post-​cold ​war​" period has come to an end. A new era of limited confrontation has begun. Confrontation and competition, but also cooperation in an uncertain mix, are on the agenda. US neo-containment meets Russia's imperial instincts and ​uncertainties. Where does the US democracy mission ​find its limits? And where does the Russia​'s Near Abroad end? ​Maybe at the border posts. ​Maybe where Russians live, many on the other side of those posts. Two uncertain giants moving in uncertain ​directions,​ sure of where to draw the red lines that the other side must not cross, but un​sure ​about self-​restraint and that brutal discipline​ which, at the time of the Cold War, nuclear weapons ​imposed​ on those in power.

[Roberta · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting book published in 2008 which describes the rise of Putin from a lowly clerk to Russian President in 1999 and his stepping back in 2008 to make way for Medvedev after completing two terms. In terms of writing, the book is very journalistic and there are a lot of repetitions: of ideas, descriptions, facts. It is inconsistent in writing style. On the other hand, it gets most of its points across easily and quickly and the reader walks away with a clear idea of what brought Putin to where he stands now: the King/Tsar figure that brought Russia back from the dead 90s and that holds a tight rein on Russia even now, guiding it still forward and establishing it in a stronger position against everyone else.

[Ning-Jia Ong · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kinda hard to read with so many names of people and places. I was more interested in Putin's ideas, thoughts, and decisions, which led to what Russia is today.

It's interesting to look back on some of these historical ideas in 2024, as since the book was written, Russia has successfully annexed Crimea and then later invaded Ukraine too.

[Mirela Simona · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Lumea de astăzi impune să recurgem la alte metode şi instrumente de a comunica unii cu alții, cât şi alte căi pentru a combate amenințările de astăzi./.../ Trebuie să negociem şi să găsim compromisuri. Abilitatea de a face compromisuri nu este doar o formalitate diplomatică față de un partener. Este, mai curând, un semn de respect pentru interesele legitime ale părților implicate."

[João RS · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having had this book on my shelf for years, I decided to revisit it given the current geopolitical climate. The book provides a comprehensive overview of Russia's transition from the chaotic Yeltsin years of the 1990s to the consolidation of power under Vladimir Putin and his Siloviki group. Sturmer approaches Russia’s evolving demographics, its role as a nuclear power, and the future of its petroleum-based economy, offering both insightful and often troubling analyses. As we face an uncertain future with Russia playing a crucial role, this book is an essential read for understanding the complexities of today’s Russia and its global implications.

[Христо Блажев · Rating 2 out of 5]

За енигмата Путин и неговата възкръснала империя
http://www.knigolandia.info/2010/06/b...

Бих поспорил за точната тематика на книгата – Путин или Русия. Като че ли се е получило предпазливо възхваляване на първия и упорито заклеймяване на второто.

Професор Щюрмер се хвали колко често е присъствал на изказвания на руския президент и впоследствие премиер, основно на негови групови срещи с медиите. Днес един приятел уместно каза да не му вярвам толкова – може да е бил агент на ЩАЗИ, кой ли знае? Сериозно погледнато, книгата е един анализ на едновременно външно и вътрешно на руската действителност лице.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting book which looks at the issues surrounding modern Russia, notably its domestic and foreign policies, business and the workings of the Kremlin. The book would greatly benefit from a very judicious editor - the author sometimes writes in a rather roundabout way. I also found myself skimming quite a lot of the book, as the author seems to spend a great deal of time merely repeating 3 key issues. However, I did enjoy learning the little bit of background on Putin, and the history and socio-political sections.

[Tom Webster · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and full of facts but seems to lack some focus.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

More about the rise of Russia than about Putin. I didn't think it was particularly well organized and found it rather disjointed.

[Habio Hst]

good

[Tihauan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was worth the price I paid for it (3 EUR) but not more. It's either repetitive and boring or my interest on the subject was low while reading it.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good book. Recommend it to everyone with an interest in history.

[Sebastião · Rating 4 out of 5]

great exposition about how russia is ruled in scheme owned by a ex-kgb or fsb net.

[Tulonga · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad.