Putin

Praise for Philip Short's Putin

"A compelling, impressive and methodically researched account of Putin's life so far. [It] extensively covers the dark moments of Putin's career.... The Putin of Short's book is not someone you would invite to dinner: he is crude and cold, arrogant and heartless."
--Peter Baker, The New York Times

"Convincing. . . . The most comprehensive English-language biography to date of the Russian leader."
--The New Yorker

"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, author of Hitler

"A biography years in the making offers a thorough look at the Russian president's life, career and concentration of power. Short...draws on hundreds of interviews for this portrait, charting Putin's transformation into a ruthless autocrat."
--The New York Times Book Review

"Magisterial.... Illuminating.... Short's Putin is a man of violent emotions ruthlessly repressed; habitually late (a power play over those kept waiting); devoid of small talk; so inscrutable that when he proposed to his wife she initially thought he was dumping her."
--The Guardian

"Philip Short's elegantly written and pacy Putin is a doorstopper and the product of eight years of research. Its publication, a few months after the invasion, makes it the most up-to-date biography available of Vladimir Putin."
--Gideon Rachman, Financial Times

"Compelling and nuanced."
--San Francisco Chronicle

"An unflinching, comprehensive, up-to-date biography of autocratic Russian President Vladimir Putin as he wreaks havoc on the global stage, digging deep to reveal the man behind the mask."
--USA Today

Praise for Biographies by Philip Short

"[Short] is excellent at coining pithy summations of political motives that ring humanly true."
--The New York Times Book Review

"Achieves the near impossible feat of translating madness into logic. This biography is a tour de force."
--David Levering Lewis, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of W.E.B. Du Bois

"Nowhere has the story . . . been told with greater authority."
--The Washington Post

"Unerringly broadens the inquiry to the point where serious history begins, and serious judgments can be made."
--Financial Times

"Masterfully prob[ing]."
--Wall Street Journal

"The best sort of biography--deeply informed, entirely readable, and at the level of sophistication and complexity needed for its particular subject."
--Richard Bernstein, coauthor of The Coming Conflict with China

"Chillingly clear . . . Complete and unflinching."
--The Economist