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Putin’s People

Putin’s People

By Catherine Belton

How the KGB Took Back Russia and then Took on the West. William Collins, 2020

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18 mins read

16 Key insights

A brief summary of Putin’s People

Step behind the propaganda and inside the story of Putin’s rise to power—from near-obscurity in East Germany to his ruthless grip of the Kremlin today—and discover how the KGB crushed the free market of the 1990s and remade Russia in their image.

Key insights in Putin’s People

1
What do you get from this book? Experience Putin’s rise and its alarming consequences for Russia and the world
2
Putin learned the KGB techniques that propelled him to the presidency early in his career in Dresden, east Germany
3
Putin’s post-soviet career in the St Petersburg mayor’s office offered criminal connections that set a pattern in his politics
4
The 1990s saw Russia’s economy fall into the hands of freewheeling oligarchs before collapsing in 1998
5
Putin started out in obscurity, but powerful allies propelled him to the presidency
6
Chechen “terrorism” and Putin’s war in response brought carnage, in which the KGB may have been involved themselves
7
The “oil wars” were the first big step in turning Russia into Putin’s own personal kleptocracy
8
Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s “show trial” was the beginning of the end for honest business across Russia
9
Corruption became part of the fabric of Russian life, and Putin’s people needed a slice of everything
10
Russian “black cash” has infected London, and is entangling big businesses across the west
11
Russian interference in Ukraine started with attacks on pro-European politicians, and continued with the annexation of Crimea
12
The Russian orthodox church and its sponsors abroad are instrumental in Putin’s cultural strategy
13
Kremlin slush funds are funding KGB assaults on western democracy, including support for Donald trump’s election campaigns
14
Summary of the key insights
15
Selected critiques in brief
16
Final word

Who should read Putin’s People

International politics buffs • historians • budding communists • John Le Carré fans • businesspeople

About the author of Putin’s People

Former Moscow correspondent for the Financial Times, Catherine Belton is a Reuters journalist who has previously been nominated for Business Journalist of the Year by the British Press Awards. She has also worked for the Moscow Times.

author avatar

Catherine Belton

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