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4.24 AVERAGE
4.24 AVERAGE
This book discusses history and a topic that I'm interested to learn more about, and I certainly did... But it felt like I was reading a textbook the whole time. It was difficult for me to get into the book and stick with it.
Interesting analysis on Mr. Putin. The authors look at six aspects of his character - the statist, the history man, the survivalist, the outsider, the free marketer, and the case officer. All provide an interesting angle on his personality. He did move the Russian state from a position of serious debt and continued fragmentation of the states to one of solvency and unity, helped by high oil prices. But along the way he decided to protect the oligarchs (for a variety of reasons that may have seemed pragmatic at the time). Now it's not obvious he has the skills (or the desire) to fix the corruption that came with the deal. Most people will find the chapter on the case officer interesting - when you are targeting an asset, build rapport, but also get the dirt on them.
I'm not at all knowledgeable about European politics, history, or economies. I can't say I absorbed all of this, but I appreciate its effort to contextualize what is happening in Russia under Putin today, and the reporting and opinions I am reading. While I can't say I grasped it all, at least now I have some background, which is more than I could say before. I will be re-reading the last couple of sections on Putin's ideas about the relationship between Russia and Ukraine, and his 2014 attempt to take Ukraine, which seems particularly relevant to the current war.
Fiona Hill primarily references Vladimir Putin's speeches and writing to provide an in-depth analysis of his motivation and strategy. This book is enlightening. It provides a logical backdrop for the hyperbole and mystification that Putin inspires from TV pundits. Fiona Hill helps make sense of Mr. Putin.
That was one of the most clearly written and eye-opening books I've read about Russia and Putin. Although the author obviously has little sympathy towards Putin, the analysis of his background as an operative, of the forming of his modus operandi puts a lot of things in the right perspective and enables us to obtain a better understanding of the current situation in Ukraine.
I only wish that publishers would choose narrators who have some basic grasp of the language that - due to the subject matter - is omnipresent throughout the book (Russian in this case). It is really annoying to listen to them stumble over words that a Russian speaker is supposed to understand, but only befuddle them.
I only wish that publishers would choose narrators who have some basic grasp of the language that - due to the subject matter - is omnipresent throughout the book (Russian in this case). It is really annoying to listen to them stumble over words that a Russian speaker is supposed to understand, but only befuddle them.
informative
medium-paced
Interesting material and ideas but poorly written and disorganised. It took a lof of effort to wade through
despite being interesting material.
despite being interesting material.
informative
slow-paced
An excellent series of mental models for how Putin views the world. Presents Putin as real person with rational objectives and not cartoonish super villain. Anyone interested in modern Russia should read. My main caution is that you should already have a decent knowledge of the outline of his biography and main events since the fall of the Soviet Union. Really enjoyed some of the more academic historical digressions and commentary on Russian culural/linguistic expressions.
informative
medium-paced