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johns_library's review against another edition
challenging
informative
slow-paced
4.5
After the fall of the Berlin wall, the world looked to be entering into a new era of peace as Russia had begun it’s new economic policies to join the markets of the West. Unbeknownst to Yeltsin, the very man they thought would continue and protect his operations, would be the one to plunge Russia back into another cold war. Putin’s People covers Putin's rise from Yeltsin puppet, into his rise as Father of the oligarchs, corruption of the Russian state and market, and the campaigns to fracture the West.
Belton covers so much in this book. She combines the perfect blend of story-telling with her own personal notes from interviewing many of the important characters surrounding Putin. From the rise of Putin into power, Belton takes much care into going into the details how the different corruption schemes had worked. One aspect that I enjoyed was Belton not going into many of the different conspiracy theories, namely pointing out what occurred and leaving it up to the reader to decide if Putin would be capable of such a thing.
The final chapter was the most interesting as it showcased how much Russian money has entered into many aspects of Western politics and in it’s market. Many reports were released that described Russian funds going into political parties throughout Western Europe and in the US. The main goal, as Belton points to, is to disarm and cause strife in the Western world. She points to the rise of fringe political groups coming to the forefront or anyone willing to disrupt the existing order. The very same order that had held Russia back in the past. It’s a warning that Putin's actions were only possible due to the greed of western capitalism. That those in financial positions would work with anyone as long as money could be made. It allowed laundered funds to flow out of a country into the pockets of those in the West.
Overall, Belton does an amazing work of following Putin’s path through his ascension to power and to his campaigns against the West. I would highly recommend this for anyone interested in current Russian history, and to get a better understanding of the campaigns Russia is doing to destabilize the West, and how it was able to do so in the first place.
benderrodriguez's review against another edition
challenging
informative
slow-paced
4.0
5 stars for the research and documentation, 3 stars or less for readability. It's very dense, and whilst I appreciate the nature of the material prevents a certain brevity, I feel that this could have been more editorial which would have helped with the digestion of such important facts.
Overall though, a very important read if you care about what's happening on the geopolitical stage and the current political quagmire of the west, thanks to Russia's meddling. The ultimate premise of the book is that the cold war never really ended, and the KGB just pivoted from their untenable position and embedded themselves into western assets, predominantly to control people of power such as Trump and the British Conservative party. It was interesting to hear about the money flows from various Russian oligarchs into pro Brexit campaigns and the Trump campaign.
Fuck Putin
Overall though, a very important read if you care about what's happening on the geopolitical stage and the current political quagmire of the west, thanks to Russia's meddling. The ultimate premise of the book is that the cold war never really ended, and the KGB just pivoted from their untenable position and embedded themselves into western assets, predominantly to control people of power such as Trump and the British Conservative party. It was interesting to hear about the money flows from various Russian oligarchs into pro Brexit campaigns and the Trump campaign.
Fuck Putin
wintrovia's review
4.0
Slow going at times but the level of detailed research in incredibly impressive. It's also brave to write such a critique of an organisation when the book repeatedly shows what happens to the critics of Putin and "KGB capitalism". The book is a thorough account of Putin's career, including his early days as a spy, rapid ascent in Russian politics and the years he's been in power.
mark_von_oink's review
4.0
Great book, very detailed when it comes to the money being moved around. The only problem I saw was that it uses alot of anonymous sources, however this could be explained by simply looking at the subject of the book.
mogreig's review against another edition
5.0
Should be compulsory reading for anyone that cares about democracy.
Well researched and a hard to put down read.
Rather frightening the impact and future plans Putin has for his ideal world.
Well researched and a hard to put down read.
Rather frightening the impact and future plans Putin has for his ideal world.
saschabookishowl's review
4.0
As Russia is currently invading Ukraine (once again), it is very timely to read about the criminal behind it all: Putin. This book is absolutely terrifying in that it shows reality: how Putin and his cronies bought their way into so many political and economic crucial relationships of the world. I will say no more on it, since people have written excellent detailed reviews of this book on Goodreads and I could never do those justice. But I will say the author did her research well and wrote a dense account that is still very readable, interesting, compelling and terrifying.
yates9's review
4.0
An incredible story one would not believe if it was the plot of a film. Its credibility here is high but perhaps even more powerful than what is real is what one could imagine being the case. So in that sense the book has a bit of a conspiratorial tone and does not clarify how the system could remain sustainable and aligned over such a long timeline.
Ultimately discussion is franed in a west vs east conflict without considering the complexity of political discourse in countries around the world. The conflict might be better characterised by age old progressive versus conservative values where the tactics in the information age are much more sophisticated where countries and companies play through plausible deniability.
It would have been interesting to consider the expected way ahead. The book ends questioning sustainability of the system from economic point of view but does not spend much time explaining why and how it relates to governance.
I think the story is not considering a flip side of the system that must be producing some economic development wifh success and this is a key difference to the USSR. Maybe the route to a win win collaboration ahead some day.
Ultimately discussion is franed in a west vs east conflict without considering the complexity of political discourse in countries around the world. The conflict might be better characterised by age old progressive versus conservative values where the tactics in the information age are much more sophisticated where countries and companies play through plausible deniability.
It would have been interesting to consider the expected way ahead. The book ends questioning sustainability of the system from economic point of view but does not spend much time explaining why and how it relates to governance.
I think the story is not considering a flip side of the system that must be producing some economic development wifh success and this is a key difference to the USSR. Maybe the route to a win win collaboration ahead some day.
wannabekingpin's review
4.0
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night mode reading ;
skaitom nakties rezimu
About the Book: In the past decade, if not more, we heard of talks, rumors, and firm accusations, facts and all, of Russia’s involvement in foreign affairs. From spies, sleepers, to trolls, and election frauds for those in Russia’s favor. Putin’s People, the rotten root in Russia’s rich soil, once was known as KGB, remains. Under a different name, yet it commits the same crimes against others, and against their own people. No one is safe, inside or out, it seems.
My Opinion: It was an almost painful read, but very well written, and very necessary. Depicting most if not all major events where Putin, directly, had a hand. Solidifying in Ukraine, as they pay the highest price right here, right now. And not for the first time either. From protests, to clashes, to outright attack by the aggressor, invasion… Everyone should read this book, and many others, to understand just how incredibly sly this snake on a red throne is.
night mode reading ;
skaitom nakties rezimu
About the Book: In the past decade, if not more, we heard of talks, rumors, and firm accusations, facts and all, of Russia’s involvement in foreign affairs. From spies, sleepers, to trolls, and election frauds for those in Russia’s favor. Putin’s People, the rotten root in Russia’s rich soil, once was known as KGB, remains. Under a different name, yet it commits the same crimes against others, and against their own people. No one is safe, inside or out, it seems.
My Opinion: It was an almost painful read, but very well written, and very necessary. Depicting most if not all major events where Putin, directly, had a hand. Solidifying in Ukraine, as they pay the highest price right here, right now. And not for the first time either. From protests, to clashes, to outright attack by the aggressor, invasion… Everyone should read this book, and many others, to understand just how incredibly sly this snake on a red throne is.