Kremlin Rising: Vladimir Putin's Russia and the End of Revolution

If you love Russia, or know someone who does, or have concern for someone who lives there then this book is for you. A great record of what's happened in the last 6 years under Putin. Things are getting worse and less free in Russia, not better. People who say "the verdict is still out on Putin," should probably read this book. In the past few years most "free" speech has been virtually outlawed, all TV media is now state-owned, oil and gas have been renationalized, the quagmire in Chechnya has continued, and all political parties and elections are now controlled by Putin and his party. My personal belief is that in 5-10 years you will no longer see Western missionaries allowed to live in Russia.

I found a good example of the censorship show more that the book talks about just yesterday. One of the websites that I used to frequent for information on Chechnya and to chat with Caucasus peoples was shut down. Kafkazcenter.com was housed in Sweden, where the Russian embassy allegedly convinced Swedish authorities to raid their offices and confiscate their servers for inciting terrorism. The site is very pro-Islam, and anti-Russian authority. You can find info on rebel attacks there that you won't see on any other news source. It's back up and running, for now, on Lithuanian servers. show less

This takes you through 2005. The early years of the Putin dictatorship when he took control of the media, kept stoking the fires in the former republics and established his government of cronyism featuring many of his ex-KGB pals. Also covers the Chechnyan terrorist attacks in Russia and how he completely befuddled and manipulated Bush. Very interesting commentary on how he revived many of the symbols of the Soviet era and now runs a semi-Soviet state while calling it a democracy. Anyone wanting a glimpse into the current Putin maneuvers will be served by reading this for background.