The Strongman: Vladimir Putin and the Struggle for Russia

About this book

Russia under Vladimir Putin has proved a prickly partner for the West a far cry from the democracy many hoped for when the Soviet Union collapsed. Angus Roxburgh charts the dramatic fight for Russias future under Vladimir Putinhow the former KGB man changed from reformer to autocrat how he sought the Wests respect but earned its fear how he cracked down on his rivals at home and burnished a flamboyant personality cult one day saving snow leopards or horse-back riding bare-chested the next tongue-lashing Western audiences. Drawing on dozens of exclusive interviews in Russia where he worked for a time as a Kremlin insider advising Putin on press relations as well as in the US and Europe Roxburgh also argues that the West threw away chances to bring Russia in from the cold by failing to understand its fears and aspirations following the collapse of communism. Fully updated following the 2012 presidential election the new edition of this acclaimed book provides a unique and penetrating inside view of Putins Russia.