Being Putin

Putin is now considered by Forbes as the world's greatest politician. Who really is Vladimir Putin, Russia's president or prime minister in alternating rounds? How was it possible for a KGB employee in eastern Germany to create a career that paved the way right up to the Russian Federation's highest service positions? The Russian-born author and military historian Vera Efron has now lifted a large number of stones and can show how a determined and ruthlessly career hungry power man can reach the very top. She portrays how Putin has cleverly been able to exploit political conditions, creating a network of contacts in the civil and military administration but also how the rivals for power have been eliminated, imprisoned, forced to exile or just silenced. A picture emerges of Putin as a kind of renaissance prince in a modern style for which not even war is a barrier to achieve his goals. And the goal is to be part of history as a powerful president of the world's most powerful country. For all who want to understand today's Russia in general and Putin in particular, this book is a must.