Putin's Russia [Paperback]

Politkovskaya's book is important in the sense as it gives a voice to people that is not heard in other books about contemporary Russia. Especially the chapter "Tanya, Misha, Lena and Rinat - Where are they now?" where she looks up people that she used to know in the 70s, gives a remarkable description of personalities that anyone that gets to know Russian's personally will be able to recognize.

A weakness of this approach is that it is difficult to recognize and appreciate these personality-types without personally knowing enough Russians to see what she is talking about. Unless you know Russians personally it will also be difficult to experience and take in, how many simply will refuse to read, know and take in her story either because it is something they have decided to act as if these things never happened - focusing on this is negative, or simply because they are very emotionally difficult to discuss. This attitude and feelings among ordinary Russians is in my view far more important than the authorities attitudes towards her writing.

I agree with the other reviews that claim her writing is very emotional. This is a problem because it makes me suspicious of her writing, even when what she tells is probably completely true. By being less emotional she would without doubt come through as more trustworthy, that is especially important because we to a large degree only have her side of the story to hold on to. Though considerably more moderate than Litvinenko and Felshtinsky's "Blowing up Russia", I find myself having some of the same mixed emotions about some of the consparicy-like claims that come up in the book, where we only have whether we believe the author or not to hold on to. Though experience have learned me that few seemingly over-the-top fantastic rumors can be ruled out when it comes to Russian politics, I am still laved with mixed emotions.

Her personal approach also leave the basic, structural facts that is important to understand contemporary Russia in the background. Gaidar has used the relevant comparison of Russia in the 90s with the last similar desperate economic situation in Germany in the 30s. About 15 years after the democracy was established in Germany, Hitler came to power under similar economic conditions. Who ever Putin is, he is like a boy-scout in that perspective. Politkovaskaya fails to give the political and economical understanding to put things into perspective. As another review states, you will not find what progresses Russia has made under Putin in this book. It is not that critical though, as long one can get that perspective from other books. Polikovskaya gives an understanding of the people acting under this cicumstances that I have seen no other books on contemporary Russia.

Politkovskaya has written other books and articles on Chechnya, I think Chechnya has got too much coverage in the book, compared to other topics. It might be that she should have chosen a different title, instead of writing relatively less about Chechnya though. It is nothing wrong with writing many books about Chechnya, it is just that the topic "Putin's Russia" is considerably broader than that.

Another review claims you can not find Politkovskayas books in Russia. I can confirm that I have found them in English in ordinary book-stores and Russian friends confirms they have fond them too.

Do read this book. Make sure you fill out the picture with other books on the Putin era and the political and economical development in Post-USSR Russia though.

The brave Anna Politkovskaya revealed the reality of Russia today in this sad, sometimes horrifying book. After a brief window period of freedom under Yeltsin, Russia has rapidly become a vast swamp of corruption, oppression and deception under Putin. Anna paid with her life for her courageous opposition to the ruling class.

Politkovskaya tells of the trouble and suffering of ordinary people who are humiliated and exploited by the criminal nomenklatura. For example Nina Levurda, who in trying to establish the truth about her son's death in the Chechen War, became a victim of this system that when not cruel, is completely indifferent to the individual. This and other cases are discussed in the chapter My Country's Army And Its Mothers.

In Russia, people imitate the man at the top, thus Putin is the one who shapes Russian society. It is mainly he who is to blame for the brutality and extremism prevalent in the army and the state apparatus. There are sections dealing with war criminals, brutality against privates in the military, government complicity in crime, the corruption in the judiciary, the struggle to survive in places like Kamchatka, and racism against people with a non-Slavic appearance.

Russia's stability is of a monstrous type, where power means everything, few people hold the law in any regard, bribes keep business and the state running, and a free press has almost disappeared. Putin's bureaucrats have taken corruption to new records, unheard of even under Yeltsin or the Communists. As a lieutenant-colonel who never made it to the rank of colonel, he has the mentality of a Soviet secret policeman. The Yukos affair and the imprisonment of Mikhail Khodorkovsky demonstrate what a vindictive little man Putin is and how he is steering the country towards fascism.

This process of crushing dissent and stifling freedom has been escalating throughout Putin's first presidential term and shows no sign of abating during the second. The Western press has mostly not showed great interest in this slide to oppression in Russia. It is hard not to write Russia off when confronted by the experiences in this book: the deliberate cruelties, the cold indifference and the manipulation of the media. Mercifully there are still people like Lev Ponomarev who are brave enough to speak out. This disturbing book concludes with explanatory notes containing references.

She was clearly a terrific writer and a passionate advocate of Human rights having worked, and ultimately paid with her life to highlight the plight of Chechnya in the 90's.
Where her book falls down is on a weakness of analysis. We learn little about Putin, nor are the positive changes he has achieved for Russia ever juxtaposed against the darker elements. There are comments about Chechnya being mentioned too much in this book. This is not the case. To understand Putin power and Putins Russia, Chechnya is central.
An obscure apparatchik, Putin emerged from the Shadows of the KGB, and embarked on the Second Chechen War gaining popular appeal through his tough handling of Chechnya. Through his divisive policies he succeeded where no previous Russian ruler or Ideology had, in dividing Chechens, who united in a National War in the 90's, were thrust into a Second War that effectively degenerated into Civilo-Religious War, and continues today. Odious as it may be, Putin stabilised Russia through a heavy subjugation of Chechnya, and to be impartial, although brutal and ruthless, he has never matched Yermolov for outright barbarity. This side of Putins realpolitik and his real political choices for that post Soviet decade are never explored fairly in this book. Russia is easily demonised, and its real Geopolitical concerns readily overlooked.
We get snap shots of a sordid Russia. Soldiers mothers mistreated, On the run Soldiers and 'dedovschina' are described in some gruesome detail. This paints a very bleak picture of Russia, but it is not the Russia of a far bleaker recent history and i fear that in the emotional involvement the writer has/had, the greater historical perspective was lost. Russia under Putin is ugly, but nothing on the Scale of Stalins Russia.