The Invention Of Russia Av Arkady (Author) Ostrovsky

<p><b>The definitive and award-winning history of Vladimir Putin''s rise to power following the collapse of the Soviet Union, by <i>The Economist</i>''s Russia editor.</b><br><br><b>''Fast-paced and excellently written'' <i>New York Times</i></b><br><br><b>''A real insiders'' story of Russia''s post-Soviet "counter-revolution" - an important and timely book.'' Anne Applebaum</b><br><br><b>WINNER OF THE ORWELL PRIZE <br></b><br>How did a country that embraced freedom over twenty-five years ago end up as an autocratic police state bent once again on confrontation with the West? In this Orwell Prize-winning book, Arkady Ostrovsky reaches back to the darkest days of the Cold War to tell the story of Russia''s stealthy and largely unchronicled post-Soviet transformation.<br><br>Ostrovsky''s knowledge of many of the key players allows him to explain the rise of Vladimir Putin and to reveal how he pioneered a new form of demagogic populism. In a new preface he examines Putin''s influence on t