Why do ordinary people support Putin? Why does Russia act so aggressively abroad? How fragile
is the regime? In Russia Starts Here Howard Amos paints a fascinating portrait of the lives
of ordinary Russians introducing us to a cast of colourful characters nestled on the fringes
of North-Eastern Europe. These include a powerful cleric close to Vladimir Putin a
chameleon-like local politician a photographer capturing the bleak struggle of everyday
Russian life on his iPhone and a horse riding enthusiast eking out a living in the ruins of a
huge aristocratic estate. Though in many ways their stories are typical of post-Soviet Russia
the locals Howard meets also have much in common with those in America's Rust Belt or parts of
Northern England - people who have been marginalised and forgotten. Through these encounters
Amos provides the reader with a unique window on the Russian psyche. He shows how the twin
catastrophes of the Second World War and the collapse of the Soviet Union still loom large in
the minds of modern Russians why they distrust their European neighbours after centuries of
invasion and aggression and the intoxicating appeal of strong leadership amidst a spiralling
cycle of rural abandonment poverty and lack of opportunity. This is a vital depiction of life
in this vast and mysterious nation.
