augustmcwake 's review for:

The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin by Masha Gessen

4.0

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I tore through Masha Gessen’s harrowing, unblinking account of Vladimir Putin’s murky ascent in Soviet/Russian politics. Gessen is, most of all, a master of context and “zooming.” Putin’s story is so intertwined with the complicated and intricate story of Russia that there were numerous points where the book could have gotten bogged down. As needed, Gessen seamlessly zooms out and weaves in the Russian history for our context clearly and concisely. They pull no punches through all the Russian propaganda and bullshit