'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. To explain is not to justify. Putin's regime is dark. But
on closer examination much of what we think we know about him turns out to rest on
half-truths. This book is as close as we will come to understanding Russia's ruler. 'Short's
pushback against lazy convenient myth-making is refreshing' The Times 'Elegantly written and
pacy' Financial Times 'Extensively covers the dark moments of Putin's career.... The Putin of
Short's book is not someone you would invite to dinner' New York Times
