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3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
Interesting but long and the narrator (author) was very dry and I found myself zoning out often
Less biographical than expected but good overview of actions under Putin’s government the last 20 years & Russian media’s spin/ American media’s lack of reporting
adventurous
dark
informative
medium-paced
If you're looking for a well researched and accessible account of how Putin came to power and the major figures and events that played a part of that process, this is a great place to start. Originally published in 2012, the time frame starts around the dissolution of the Soviet Union, through the 1990's, and right up to 2012. The copy I have also has a 2014 postscript. The meeting between Masha Gessen and Putin at the end of the book hit me like a punch in the gut. The hope for meaningful social, economic, and political change that characterized the late Soviet Union and early years of the Russian Federation is slowly chipped away at.
It's not surprising that Gessen is doing some of the most fearless writing about Trump right now, as she has consistently been a vocal and active critic of Putin, an autocrat that Trump seems to admire greatly.
Of course, this book is already nearly five years old, so she wasn't writing this from any perspective beyond that of a Russian watching the hopes of a generation descend into a totalitarian state, the likes of which they believed they finally stepped away from just 20 years ago.
It's a fascinating account of his rise to power. I recommend it highly, along with the rest of Gessen's work. It's a depressing document of how a people and nation will hoodwink themselves into an autocratic regime while certain actors behave ruthlessly while others behave cowardly, and multitudes behave what can be looked back on as naivety and hopeless optimism.
Of course, this book is already nearly five years old, so she wasn't writing this from any perspective beyond that of a Russian watching the hopes of a generation descend into a totalitarian state, the likes of which they believed they finally stepped away from just 20 years ago.
It's a fascinating account of his rise to power. I recommend it highly, along with the rest of Gessen's work. It's a depressing document of how a people and nation will hoodwink themselves into an autocratic regime while certain actors behave ruthlessly while others behave cowardly, and multitudes behave what can be looked back on as naivety and hopeless optimism.
informative
medium-paced
I was pretty excited to read this book. Then I started reading it. This is one of the driest books I have ever read. I could not even finish it, and I almost always push through a book, hoping it will get better. I didn't have hope for this book. Masha Gessen is a little too biased for my taste. I wanted an objective rundown of who Vladimir Putin is and how he rose to presidency. That brings me to another point. A lot of this isn't even about Vladimir Putin directly. This book is more about the political and social atmosphere of Russia between the 1940s to the early 2000s. Another thing is that if Vladimir Putin is exactly the man that she makes him out to be, she should have been taken down by now. However, this is just my opinion.
A blend of reportage and personal narrative. Not so well-woven and often speculative — doesn't seem easy to get FOIA requests there — it still paints portrait of power.
dark
informative
reflective
medium-paced
So this was less a bio of the man himself, and more about how he wields power - but, my god, it's critical, chilling stuff either way. Seriously: terrifying.
informative
reflective
medium-paced