The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin by Masha Gessen

My reading about Russia continues, from ancient history to current day stuff, so that’s what led me to this book about Putin. This is one eye-opening nonfiction book. I read two newspapers almost every day, and I’ve done that for many years. However, I was only vaguely aware that Putin was a despot, a tsar-like figure, and a man who fraudulently held onto power in Russia. But I really had no idea of the extent of his being a Stalin-like figure. As the title of the book suggests, his rise to power came from nowhere. When he took Boris Yeltsin’s place at the head of government, Russians had as little knowledge about Putin as we Americans had of Sarah Palin. His vicious disregard for the rights of others and his willingness to steal whatever he wanted became apparent within days of his ascent, and it has only gotten worse. The western press was distracted by 9/11 while Putin solidified his power based and completely destroyed the budding democracy movement in the country. Gessen skillfully writes about the details of how Putin did it and the people that he damaged, drove into exile, and killed along the way. Gessen estimates that in his power and money grab, Putin has amassed a person fortune of more than $40 billion. If you have an interest in current day Russia, then this book is a must read for you.