Inside the Mind of Vladimir Putin [Paperback]

The Russian president's landmark speeches, interviews and policies borrow heavily from great Russian thinkers past and present, from Peter the Great to Dostoevsky and Solzhenitsyn. They offer powerful visions of strong leaders and the Russian nation: they value conservatism and the Slavic spirit. They root morality in Orthodoxy, and Russian identity in the historic struggle with the West.

Today, Putin manages and manipulates those same ideas in his 'defense' of 130 million ethnic Russians against the world. With the annexation of Crimea, the war in Syria and shock election results across the West, the challenge of decrypting his worldview has become more pressing than ever. From a Eurasian Union to a new Russian Empire, this is a revealing tour of Kremlin doctrine and strategy, viewed through its philosophical roots.

[A] slender but sizzling book . . . essential reading for anyone who wants to know where the regime in the Kremlin is heading --and what it means for the rest of the world. --The Timesof London

Drawing on interviews with many of the politicians and thinkers . . . close to . . . Putin [Eltchaninoff] . . . persuasively show[s] how ideas that have shaped the culture [of Putin] have in turn shaped [him]. --The Financial Times

Intriguing. --The New Statesman

Eltchaninoff provides a detailed discussion of the origins of Putin's philosophy. --Survival

On the plane to Moscow, Fran?ois Hollande buried himself in a fascinating little new book: Inside the Mind of Vladimir Putin. Michel Eltchaninoff, a great connoisseur of Russian history and literature, traces the spiritual and political journey of the 'master of Moscow', who forces his oligarchs to read 19th century thought. --Midi Libre

The fundamental question addressed by Michel Eltchaninoff in his excellent book [is this]: what is the Kremlin chief thinking? And will the 21stlsó