Customer Reviews

Putin's Russia

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Author Lilia Shevtsova gives an authoritative, if undramatic and less than perfectly organized, account of the rise of Vladimir Putin. Boris Yeltsin chose the anonymous, quiet former KGB colonel for one of the world's most powerful jobs, in part because of his loyalty. Putin's clear-eyed pragmatism and his visceral support of George W. Bush's war on terrorism have given Russia otherwise unattainable international significance. Now, will Putin use his power to reform Russia's political institutions and strengthen its framework of democratic governance? This quite readable book goes beyond the headlines and indicates that Russia is still a land of intrigue and mystery, where the only certainty is that there is none. Under that circumstance, Shevtsova has done an admirable job of framing how Russia reached its current state and what historical choices now confront it. The future of Russia is far from set. We very highly recommend this book to those who seek a deeper understanding of one of America's staunchest allies in the war on terror.

This wonderful and VERY readable work is surprisingly up to date (literally fresh of the press) and also extremely insightful. Shevtsova's basic premise, and one that is so true, is that Russians, when confronted with hard times, seem to rely on a "strong leader" to solve problems. She believes that Putin in many ways embodies this theme and that what Russia is truly lacking is not only a democratic culture but democratic institutions with real bite and stability. Respect for the rule of the law, as distinguished from Putin's "dictatorship of the law" is still lacking. Putin is a bit of an ambigious political personality, yet Shevtsova basically cracks the nut; this one is a real treat and sadly isn't available as widely as it should be. Indispensible to the modern Russophile or anyone interested in world events. Bravo.

I have not yet read the book in its entirety, its for a class, but I expect the revised version of the book to include events that the last one missed out on.

The reviewers who give this book a bad rating must have picked up the book expecting a pageturner. This book is not one, in the least. That being said; this book is an excellent academic resource and fairly interesting. But I say 'interesting' from the point of view of a political fanatic. If you are joe shmo you will probably abondon this book after the first chapter.

Excellently written, impressivly informative, and an all around good book.

::I havent finished the book, so take this as you will. I'm concerned i wont even bother finishing it so I've given the neutral 3-rating, which is almost certainly better than what I'd give if I actually did finish::

Half way through this and I must agree with the 1-stars, the best single word description of the book is "vacuous". At first i thought the quality may have been a result of the translation to English, but after 200pgs it seems clear that the author is simply not a particularly talented, insightful, or careful journalist or scholar. What these 5-star reviews are billing as an "authoritative" account is really more of an un-hedged meandering narrative. It's not even that I disagree with the author's opinions, I'm not really in any place to. But there are just page after page of them, unrefined "I think"'s and assumptions (and yes, she literally says "I think" several times). This wouldnt have been so bad if it were all backed by substantial research, but its not. Claims and opinions repeatedly go un-sourced; the occasional opinion poll or newspaper article is really all there is to look forward to by way of support. What footnotes there are an absolute joke, at least a third are just further clarification statements by the author, with no sources given at all. After writing several research papers for a not-too-prestigious US university, I can assure you this book couldnt have topped a B-minus for this reason alone.

Additionally, in no subject matter is there any particularly penetrating analysis that you couldn't have gotten somewhere else. The author seems to be forever scratching the surface on some big, interesting issues. This is about the only good thing I can say so far: if you want a summary of the major issues during the Putin years then this might be for you. Or you could just read chronologically every Washington Post or Financial Times headline on Russia from these years. Just the headline.

So yes, I'm utterly disappointed so far. I've seen her quoted in the Financial Times and the Economist many times, as some sort of premo Russia-watcher. And she works for the CEIP's Moscow Centre, which I assumed would produce a decent book. But honestly, it reads like it was written by a very bright college freshman who was struggling to fill space and did so with pointless conjecture rather than actual research. This is Russia, not Mali or Chad. There's no shortage of information and books and articles and data and personalities to draw from, but it all goes virtually untapped. That her arguments are so poorly backed up is simply inexcusable.

I read the first edition of this book and am reading the new revised edition. If you want to know what Putin is really like and where he may be leading Russia, read this book. I gave a copy to a Russian friend who is fluent in English so that I could get a Russian's opinion. She is in India now but I will post her reaction when I get it.

This book is horrible. Basically a vacuous stream of consciousness motif that raises more questions than answers, but not thought provoking questions, just: what if this / what if that / I think this / others think that / and the latest poll X says 17% of Russians believe Y.

Reading the editorials at Moscow Times dot com would be better.

Further, it does not cover events post January 2003.

I believe this author is known within Russia as a sort of intellectual. If this is the quality of Russian scholarship, then indeed Russia has no future. Maybe something was lost in the translation?

What this book does not cover. How did Putin get in office? The country was getting ready to elect a communist government. How did he gain an advantage? Corruption. How is he corrupt, GO into that please. The only way you can be in charge of Russia is with the US help. Please tell the real story please.