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3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
For some reason, I had a hard time really getting into this book and consequently spent the entire summer ready about Putin. Booooo. I did learn a lot about the man's backstory and the horrific state of things in Russia under his regime. However, I felt like Gessen walked a strange line between trying to remove herself from the narrative (especially in the early chapters) and making herself a main part of it. I wish she'd settled on one perspective. I found the afterword, in which she comes face to face with Putin and confirms how truly disconnected the man is from reality, was the best part. I know that technically happened after the book published (hence being an afterword), but I couldn't help wishing the rest of the book had been as compelling.
honestly this book is so informative and I am glad I read it. I understand much better now why people are so scared of Putin. He is a very scary man.
Russia is being run like a mob and knowing that makes it easier to understand what is happening in the world.
only 4 stars because it was hard to follow at times. but it came together eventually.
Russia is being run like a mob and knowing that makes it easier to understand what is happening in the world.
only 4 stars because it was hard to follow at times. but it came together eventually.
AUDIO BOOK. Lots of Russian history here - lots of Russian names. I learned a lot but not quite as much as I hoped. Still, interesting and I’m glad I listened.
Possible PopSugar Prompts: Set in a city that has hosted the Olympics, about a World Leader, By or about a Journalist, More than 20 letters in the title.
So I apparently went HARDCORE into Russia and Russia themes this year. Maybe it's the Russian heritage I have, who knows. Anyway, I had heard amazing things about this book and while it was really good and had tons of well-researched information, I find myself just..whelmed. Not over or under, simply whelmed. The story is told part biography, part memoir, and I find Gessen's voice so interesting and wonderful, and the more I listened to the audiobook the more astounded I became at Putin's rise to power. A very interesting book to be sure!
So I apparently went HARDCORE into Russia and Russia themes this year. Maybe it's the Russian heritage I have, who knows. Anyway, I had heard amazing things about this book and while it was really good and had tons of well-researched information, I find myself just..whelmed. Not over or under, simply whelmed. The story is told part biography, part memoir, and I find Gessen's voice so interesting and wonderful, and the more I listened to the audiobook the more astounded I became at Putin's rise to power. A very interesting book to be sure!
informative
medium-paced
Read it. Good research. But the author is too close and it detracts from the info with her tone when she narrates the audiobook.
I loved Masha Gessen's collumns in the New York Times but was rather disappointed by this book. A rather weak speciment if you're looking to make sense of contemporary Russian politics, or even just of Putin.
Vladimir Putin is sort of an enigma. It's hard to know what to make of him. Who is he? What is his background? How did this person who rose from the bottom of the KGB come to be such a long term fixture in Russian politics? This book looks at all this and more. Told from the perspective of a journalist (Masha Gessen), the book brings together the personalities and the events of recent Russian history.
I didn't know much about Putin at all before listening to this book except for the fact that first he was Prime Minister of Russia and then he stepped aside for Dmitri Medvedyev, only to come back as Prime Minister fairly recently. In Political Science terms, this would be looked at as an observation in how Russia isn't quite fully democratic and may be sliding backwards in the political freedom department.
The book recounts Putin's early biography from his childhood to his career as a KGB operative to his political rise through his controversial political career all against the backdrop of a vastly and quickly changing country. It was interesting to see how just being in the "right place at the right time" contributed to his rise. A lot of his background I didn't know. He was sort of a weird guy, just sort of off kilter and I thought it was really interesting to see that.
Some parts of the book were very hard to listen to. There were many political gaffes where people's lives hung in the balance and yet no action was taken (the Kursk (sp?) submarine issue, the Chechen school issue, the taking of the Moscow theater). I had forgotten about a lot of these events and how Putin handled or did not handle the books. It was sort of crazy to see how by trying to make himself look good, Putin would step on anyone that was in his way.
I feel like this book gave me a much better insight into why Russian politics and Russia itself are the way that they are. So much of Russia's recent history has been entangled with one man, that being Putin.
The audiobook version of this book is great. The narrator did a good job with all of the different accents of the people in the book.
Bottom line: History and politics lovers will enjoy this book.
I didn't know much about Putin at all before listening to this book except for the fact that first he was Prime Minister of Russia and then he stepped aside for Dmitri Medvedyev, only to come back as Prime Minister fairly recently. In Political Science terms, this would be looked at as an observation in how Russia isn't quite fully democratic and may be sliding backwards in the political freedom department.
The book recounts Putin's early biography from his childhood to his career as a KGB operative to his political rise through his controversial political career all against the backdrop of a vastly and quickly changing country. It was interesting to see how just being in the "right place at the right time" contributed to his rise. A lot of his background I didn't know. He was sort of a weird guy, just sort of off kilter and I thought it was really interesting to see that.
Some parts of the book were very hard to listen to. There were many political gaffes where people's lives hung in the balance and yet no action was taken (the Kursk (sp?) submarine issue, the Chechen school issue, the taking of the Moscow theater). I had forgotten about a lot of these events and how Putin handled or did not handle the books. It was sort of crazy to see how by trying to make himself look good, Putin would step on anyone that was in his way.
I feel like this book gave me a much better insight into why Russian politics and Russia itself are the way that they are. So much of Russia's recent history has been entangled with one man, that being Putin.
The audiobook version of this book is great. The narrator did a good job with all of the different accents of the people in the book.
Bottom line: History and politics lovers will enjoy this book.
With the US-Russia summit concluding today, this book is timely. It was completed in 2012, with this edition having added sections for 2013 & 2014. It is a highly detailed, well researched book that brings to light the person of Vadimir Putin. There isn't any propoganda here or positive spin origin story. The author gives a view of the environment of Russia after World War 2, especially Leningrade, where Putin came from. We learn about him as a kid and young adult. Then the book dives into Putin in government.
I learned a lot about the measure of the man who calls himself President of Russia. He isn't President, he is a dictator who uses all of the tools of government to silence anyone who even looks at him wrong. He ran St. Petersburg like a mafia don. The city was a failed state, yet he and a few others grew rich. That mentality was brought into the Kremlin after the Family anointed him to secede Boris Yeltsin. Putin was very comfortable with the USSR model of total dominance. He has made sure to return Russia to the days of the USSR, but without the Communist ideology.
I didn't realize that Putin was leading Russia at the time of the Kursk accident. I had followed that when it happened (anything submarine for me). I did remember him not doing anything for days. It is also seen as a turning point for him, one which taught him not to get into a room with a lot of people. He hated that. It is the reason he only wants small groups. Better control over the environment.
I learned quite a bit about how the FSB was behind a series of "terrorist" incidences in the country. This includes the bombing of apartment buildings in Moscow to hostage situations. Each of the incidences was used to stoke fear in the populas and give Putin something to crow about when the perpetrators are dealt with. This is using the lives of your fellow countrymen to further your take over of that same country.
It struck me after these revelations and those around the murders of dissidents, that here in the US have it easy. We think Nixon was evil in how he executed his political shenanigans. He helped keep the Vietnam War going so that he could use it as a campaign wedge against Johnson in 1968. But he didn't have the FBI destroy buildings to give him cover to take over more of the levers of power. Our idea of evil is a boy scout in comparison to that of Putin and his cronies.
Putin plays the long game. He is a thug and bully that will blame everything in the world on someone else. That he is the victim, while screwing over the Russian people and those of the world. What got me in the end was why is he putting on the charade of a democracy? Why even have elections or go through the motions of trials? The people know it is corrupt. But Putin continues to put forth the vener of being a society of laws. The Kremlin picks who is on the undercard for the elections. Why not just do it like Iraq under their dictator? One candidate. Look he won!
In the end, it is a sad state of affairs. What does Putin and his cronies want? Power? They have that. Same with money and fancy things. Respect? This isn't the way to get it, unless you are of the ilk of Trump. But the Russian power center doesn't know any other way. During the Cold War, the USSR was fearful of NATO invading and conducting regime change. That was the only way they saw things. For that is what they saw in others, since that is the only way they could think. Same here. No one knows what happens after Putin. There is no succession, there is no internal development of clear thinking leaders. Just the corrupt stealing as much as they can before it all collapses again.
Collapse it will. Another good book, _Why Civilizations Die_ by David Paul Goldman lays out what will happen. The birth rate of Russia is falling. It has been for decades. This is similar to many places around the world. The old will outnumber the young in 20-30 years. Add on top of that the behavior of cultures that are dying. They lash out when they lose hope. To harm others in order to distract from the coming generational cliff. Put is all together, Putin's actions, his formenting of conflict and desire to keep the old ways means the Russian leadership sees the only way out is control the populace and bleed it dry. Read both books to have a better understanding of who is running Russia & the repercussions of a declining population.
I learned a lot about the measure of the man who calls himself President of Russia. He isn't President, he is a dictator who uses all of the tools of government to silence anyone who even looks at him wrong. He ran St. Petersburg like a mafia don. The city was a failed state, yet he and a few others grew rich. That mentality was brought into the Kremlin after the Family anointed him to secede Boris Yeltsin. Putin was very comfortable with the USSR model of total dominance. He has made sure to return Russia to the days of the USSR, but without the Communist ideology.
I didn't realize that Putin was leading Russia at the time of the Kursk accident. I had followed that when it happened (anything submarine for me). I did remember him not doing anything for days. It is also seen as a turning point for him, one which taught him not to get into a room with a lot of people. He hated that. It is the reason he only wants small groups. Better control over the environment.
I learned quite a bit about how the FSB was behind a series of "terrorist" incidences in the country. This includes the bombing of apartment buildings in Moscow to hostage situations. Each of the incidences was used to stoke fear in the populas and give Putin something to crow about when the perpetrators are dealt with. This is using the lives of your fellow countrymen to further your take over of that same country.
It struck me after these revelations and those around the murders of dissidents, that here in the US have it easy. We think Nixon was evil in how he executed his political shenanigans. He helped keep the Vietnam War going so that he could use it as a campaign wedge against Johnson in 1968. But he didn't have the FBI destroy buildings to give him cover to take over more of the levers of power. Our idea of evil is a boy scout in comparison to that of Putin and his cronies.
Putin plays the long game. He is a thug and bully that will blame everything in the world on someone else. That he is the victim, while screwing over the Russian people and those of the world. What got me in the end was why is he putting on the charade of a democracy? Why even have elections or go through the motions of trials? The people know it is corrupt. But Putin continues to put forth the vener of being a society of laws. The Kremlin picks who is on the undercard for the elections. Why not just do it like Iraq under their dictator? One candidate. Look he won!
In the end, it is a sad state of affairs. What does Putin and his cronies want? Power? They have that. Same with money and fancy things. Respect? This isn't the way to get it, unless you are of the ilk of Trump. But the Russian power center doesn't know any other way. During the Cold War, the USSR was fearful of NATO invading and conducting regime change. That was the only way they saw things. For that is what they saw in others, since that is the only way they could think. Same here. No one knows what happens after Putin. There is no succession, there is no internal development of clear thinking leaders. Just the corrupt stealing as much as they can before it all collapses again.
Collapse it will. Another good book, _Why Civilizations Die_ by David Paul Goldman lays out what will happen. The birth rate of Russia is falling. It has been for decades. This is similar to many places around the world. The old will outnumber the young in 20-30 years. Add on top of that the behavior of cultures that are dying. They lash out when they lose hope. To harm others in order to distract from the coming generational cliff. Put is all together, Putin's actions, his formenting of conflict and desire to keep the old ways means the Russian leadership sees the only way out is control the populace and bleed it dry. Read both books to have a better understanding of who is running Russia & the repercussions of a declining population.
Meanders quite a bit from Putin himself into a complex warren of associates and contemporaries, but Gessen does an excellent job of teasing the important threads out into solid narrative timelines and explaining the nesting doll problem-within-a-problem that is Russia during Putin's climb (because "rise" doesn't quite fit, in my opinion) to power.
If the last fifteen years of watching him have told us anything, it is that there is not a lot of personality to Putin, just impulse and anger, and that's well documented here. Gessen's writing is historical and psychoanalytical and brave as always and this book is certainly worth the time. There's a little less futurism and socio-political prediction than I would have liked in here, but still - worth it.
If the last fifteen years of watching him have told us anything, it is that there is not a lot of personality to Putin, just impulse and anger, and that's well documented here. Gessen's writing is historical and psychoanalytical and brave as always and this book is certainly worth the time. There's a little less futurism and socio-political prediction than I would have liked in here, but still - worth it.