Description

‘A perfect mirror to its subject… should be compulsory reading’ Observer

Vladimir Putin is a pariah to the West.

He has the power to reduce the West to nuclear ashes. He invades his neighbours, meddles in western elections and orders assassinations. His regime is autocratic and corrupt. Yet many Russians continue to support him. Under Putin’s leadership, Russia has once again become a force to be reckoned with.

Philip Short’s magisterial biography explores in unprecedented depth the personality of Russia’s leader and demolishes many of our preconceptions about Putin’s Russia.

To explain is not to justify. Putin’s regime is dark. But on closer examination, much of what we think we know about him turns out to rest on half-truths. This book is as close as we will come to understanding Russia’s ruler.

‘Short’s pushback against lazy, convenient myth-making is refreshing’ The Times

‘Elegantly written and pacy’ Financial Times

‘Extensively covers the dark moments of Putin’s career…. The Putin of Short’s book is not someone you would invite to dinner’ New York Times

Publisher Review

Magisterial... based on access to a Who's Who of senior politicians, diplomats and intelligence sources. * Guardian * An exhaustive profile * Daily Telegraph, *Books of the Year* * Exceptional... unlikely to be matched as a study of the man... It is readable, judicious, critical but balanced and focused on Putin the person rather than on the Putin regime * The Irish Times * [A] revealing and compellingly granular biography * Times Literary Supplement * Anyone wanting to learn more about Putin's personality, ideas, power and the threat he has come to pose to world peace should read this outstanding biography -- Ian Kershaw