cover image The New Tsar: The Rise and Reign of Vladimir Putin

The New Tsar: The Rise and Reign of Vladimir Putin

Steven Lee Myers. Knopf, $32.50 (560p) ISBN 978-0-307-96161-7

New York Times reporter Myers has written a timely, richly detailed, if too narrowly focused biography of Vladimir Putin. Putin, a KGB operative, cannily decided to leave the agency during the Soviet collapse in 1991. He ascended to power nine years later, and now controls the vast Russian Federation as tightly as a czar. As the book reveals, his authoritarian, highly nationalistic style and assertive foreign policy are directed toward rebuilding Russian power in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, not reestablishing Soviet ideology. Myers emphasizes the suppression of internal dissent, which includes the Pussy Riot arrests and—many theorize—whistle-blower Alexander Litvinenko’s poisoning. The narrative also covers Putin’s moves against the country’s oligarchs, such as the imprisonment of oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky and expropriation of his company, Yukos. Myers concludes with Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea. His book appears as tensions between the West and Russia are rapidly rising, involving areas from the Baltic to the Ukraine and escalating to threats of nuclear force. Myers provides little historical context to explain Putin’s appeal and the broader Russian disposition. His inside-baseball account, often focused on little-known personalities and behind-the-scenes political machinations, will intrigue readers but leave them with only a shadowy picture of this enigmatic modern-day “tsar.” [em]Agent: Larry Weissman, Larry Weissman Literary. (Oct.) [/em]