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Putin
- Author
- Philip Short
- Narrator
- Jonathan Keeble
- Publisher
- Random House
- Publish Date
- 30 June 2022
- Run Time
- 29 hours 33 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
- Genre
- Biography: historical, political and military, Political leaders and leadership, Cold wars and proxy conflicts
- Rating
- 4.0 (1 review)
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What to expect
Brought to you by Penguin.
Vladimir Putin is a pariah to the West.
Alone among world leaders, he has the power to reduce the United States and Europe to ashes in a nuclear firestorm and has threatened to do so. He invades his neighbours, most recently Ukraine, meddles in western elections and orders assassinations inside and outside Russia. The regime he heads is autocratic and corrupt.
Yet many Russians continue to support him. Despite western sanctions, the majority have been living better than at any time in the past. By fair means or foul, 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 its enigmatic and ruthless leader and demolishes many of our preconceptions about Putin's Russia. Since becoming President in 2000, his obsession has been to restore Russia's status as a great power, unbound by western rules. What forces and experiences shaped him? What led him to challenge the American-led world order that has kept the peace since the end of the Cold War?
To explain is not to justify. Putin's regime is dark. He pursues his goals relentlessly by whatever means he thinks fit. 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. It also makes us revise long-held assumptions about the course of global politics since the end of the Cold War.
© Philip Short 2022 (P) Penguin Audio 2022
Critics Review
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Magisterial... based on access to a Who's Who of senior politicians, diplomats and intelligence sources.
Guardian
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An exhaustive profile
Daily Telegraph, *Books of the Year*
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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
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[A] revealing and compellingly granular biography
Times Literary Supplement
See more reviews See fewer reviews
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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
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A masterly portrait of one of the most calculating and impenetrable individuals on the world stage
Irish Independent
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As a chronicle of Putin's public doings, the book is near faultless... [with] some sharply worded insights
The Times
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A perfect mirror to its subject... This new biography should be compulsory reading
Observer
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Philip Short's timely new biography ... provides a comprehensive, extensively researched account of Putin's life, in the process debunking some of the more tenacious clichés about the Russian leader
New Statesman
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Short brings to this project extensive research and fluid prose. This book is comprehensive in the best sense, a detailed and meticulous chronicle of Putin's life
Literary Review
User Reviews
Book 4.0
Narration 5.0
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4.0 5.0
A very interesting book in light of world events and very well read. I found the earlier chapters more difficult simply because of many unfamiliar Russian names which are mentioned, and so I listened to the first six hours twice. The rest of the audiobook was on much more familiar ground. The author is certainly not one of the more critical writers on Putin. On occasions when he denied that Putin did certain things he did not explain how he knew that fact. I was left asking the question of the author, how do you know? Yet for all that it was a very worthwhile listen.
Liam 2023-04-16
Details
- Author
- Philip Short
- Narrator
- Jonathan Keeble
- Duration
- 29 hours 33 minutes
- Release Date
- 30 June 2022
- ISBN
- 9781529194425
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Random House
- Genre
- Biography: historical, political and military, Political leaders and leadership, Cold wars and proxy conflicts
- Rating
- 4.0(1 review)
- Narration
- 5.0(1 review)
Synopsis
Brought to you by Penguin.Vladimir Putin is a pariah to the West.Alone among world leaders, he has the power to reduce the United States and Europe to ashes in a nuclear firestorm and has threatened to do so. He invades his neighbours, most recently Ukraine, meddles in western elections and orders assassinations inside and outside Russia. The regime he heads is autocratic and corrupt.Yet many Russians continue to support him. Despite western sanctions, the majority have been living better than at any time in the past. By fair means or foul, 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 its enigmatic and ruthless leader and demolishes many of our preconceptions about Putin's Russia. Since becoming President in 2000, his obsession has been to restore Russia's status as a great power, unbound by western rules. What forces and experiences shaped him? What led him to challenge the American-led world order that has kept the peace since the end of the Cold War?To explain is not to justify. Putin's regime is dark. He pursues his goals relentlessly by whatever means he thinks fit. 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. It also makes us revise long-held assumptions about the course of global politics since the end of the Cold War.© Philip Short 2022 (P) Penguin Audio 2022
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