Putin : His Life and Times

'A perfect mirror to its subject... should be compulsory reading' Observer

Vladimir Putin is a pariah to the West.

He has the power to reduce the West to nuclear ashes. He invades his neighbours, meddles in western elections and orders assassinations. His regime is autocratic and corrupt. Yet many Russians continue to support him. 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 Russia's leader and demolishes many of our preconceptions about Putin's Russia.