Inside Putin's Russia - Softcover

Andrew-jack

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1862077223 ISBN 13: 9781862077225

Publisher: Granta Books, 2005

Synopsis

He emerged from the shadows of the Soviet secret police and lowly government jobs to become the most powerful man in Russia. Since Vladimir Putin was propelled into the Kremlin in 2000, he has defied domestic and foreign expectations, by presiding over a period of strong economic growth, significant restructuring and rising international prestige. Yet Putin himself remains a man of mystery and contradictions; he has pursued an increasingly pro-western foreign policy and liberal economic reforms, while continuing a hardline war in Chechnya and introducing tighter controls over parliament, the regions and the media, which are reminiscent of the Soviet era. Inside Putin's Russia digs behind the rumours and speculation, tracing Putin's rise to power and assessing how he has performed in office, and the changing nature of the Russia he rules. It draws on interviews with Putin himself, and a number of the country's leading figures, as well as many ordinary Russians. Andrew Jack's conclusions are important for anyone interested in the recent past and future of Russia.

About this title

About the Author

Andrew Jack is currently the FT's chief Moscow correspondent. While based in the UK he was part of the award-winning investigative team reporting on the BCCI and Robert Maxwell scandals. While based in Paris from 1994-1998 he wrote the critically acclaimed book The French Exception.

From Publishers Weekly

In assessing Vladimir Putin's first term as Russia's president, Jack, Moscow bureau chief of the Financial Times, answers a very limited "yes" to the subtitle's question. His finely wrought political record of the country's last four years argues that a detailed understanding of Russia's particular combination of circumstances—Cold War security-state trauma; out-of-control crony capitalism; a simmering, terror-centered civil war—make Putin's autocracy more comprehensible, if not palatable or sustainable. A familiar introductory profile of a smart, engaged Putin; sketches of gulag survivor culture; Putin's rise from Petersburg-based bureaucrat to Yeltsin's handpicked successor, then autocratic ruler; and Chechnya's role in shaping Putin's rule since his appointment to the presidency in 2000 (with subsequent elections) form the book's succinct first half. The book's second half finely renders the fallout from Russia's disastrous privatization in the 1990s; in chapters like "Autumn of the Oligarchs," Jack (The French Exception) sees Putin as attempting to get the power brokers created by Yeltsin to serve the country with a combination of shrewd legislation, media control and raw power. It can be tough to keep track of the players in the shady doings of Yukos, Lukoil and other energy companies still in the news, but Jack's familiarity with and skepticism of them makes for directed reading. The result is an excellent (and wary) political and economic overview of an often opaque U.S. ally.
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About this edition

• Publisher: Granta Books
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 1862077223
• ISBN 13: 9781862077225
• Binding: Paperback