The Man Without A Face: The Unlikely Rise Of Vladimir Putin (2010) - Plot & Excerpts
This book is a page-turner and a scathing takedown of Vladimir Putin. You shouldn't necessarily expect Masha Gessen to be objective given that she has been a journalist and activist in Russia for the past 20 years and many of her friends have been murdered or jailed. You have to admire this courageous person, especially because she is a gay journalist, possibly Putin's two least favorite things. She marshals a wide array of evidence to take down this enigmatic but truly cold and evil dictator who has gutted Russia and destroyed any chance of it becoming a democracy in the near future.The craziest parts of this book are the continual spying, harassment, and violence carried out by Putin's secret police, the FSB. Russia is truly a police state, and the FSB seems to lurk around every corner. Gessen's discussions of terrorist attacks, mysterious explosions, the Kursk submarine disaster, the Chechen War, and the killings of journalists and activists show FSB fingers everywhere. She sounds conspiratorial until she really gets into the evidence and asks pointed questions about the complicity and negligence of the FSB. The accounts of fishy government actions in some of the worst tragedies in recent Russian history, such as the Beslan school siege and the 2002 theater hostage crisis, are shocking and infuriating. Putin seems to be willing to sacrifice hundreds if not thousands of lives for political gain or to demonstrate his toughness. Putin, a cold, mean, petty, vulgar figure, runs Russia like Tony Soprano ran New Jersey. My main issue with the book is that Gessen has no explanation for why Putin has become a popular figure in Russia. Part of the problem is that the book came out in 2012, before the Ukraine Crisis and Putin vaulting himself into a symbol of a revived Russian nationalism. As a liberal journalist, Gessen walks in circles who are almost totally opposed to Putin, but one wonders how well she connects with the average Russian's thinking. Putin seems to have captured the loyalty of the majority of the nation with his thuggish attitude, cultural conservatism, revanchist foreign policy, and nose-thumbing to the West. There is a darkness in Russia that lies far deeper than Putin and the FSB, and I would love to see Gessen mine the roots of his seemingly inexplicable popularity. Nevertheless, I highly recommend this shocking and readable book as an introduction to Putin and to modern Russian politics. A revealing portrait of a petty, self-absorbed, manipulative man with immense power. Masha Gessen's damning portrayal of Vladimir Putin and his unfortunately successful quest for unchecked power is a must-read. Gessen's sobering book shows how the former KGB pencil pusher has efficiently dismantled the independent press, rolled back nearly every democratic reform from the Yeltsin era, stolen billions from the economy, and ruthlessly exiled or murdered anyone who stood in his way. Russia is not a democracy or even oligarchy, but rather a country controlled by a vulgar thug who will stop at nothing to maintain power. As with all tyrannical authoritarian regimes, Putin appears to be becoming more self-absorbed and isolated, which makes him essentially vulnerable. As Gessen points out, "the person or persons to topple [Putin's regime] would not have to overcome the force of an ingrained ideology - they would merely have to show that the tyrant had feet of clay."
What do You think about The Man Without A Face: The Unlikely Rise Of Vladimir Putin (2010)?
didn't finish this one, not in the mood,maybe I'll look at it again some time.
—APrincessOfRebellion
3.6, more of a critique of Russian politics post USSR than a Putin biography.
—mari
This book is a must read to understand today's news. HIGHLY recommended.
—lili
