Review
Kirkus Reviews, July 1, 2010
“A relentless investigation that demonstrates how, with Putin’s rise, the KSB has taken its place ‘at the head table of power and prestige in Russia.’ ”
Wall Street Journal, September 17, 2010
“Few people are better placed than Mr. Soldatov and Ms. Borogan to write with authority on this subject. They run the website Agentura.Ru, a magpie's nest of news and analysis that presents a well-informed view of the inner workings of this secret state. Given the fates that have befallen other investigative journalists in Russia in recent years, some might fear for the authors' safety. But the publication of the "The New Nobility" in English is welcome; it should be essential reading for those who hold naïve hopes about Russia's development or who pooh-pooh the fears of its neighbors.”
Foreign Policy, September 17, 2010
“The authors bring hard-digging, fact-based journalism to an aspect of Russia that has been hard to document and understand… Sober and probing.”
Basil and Spice, September 14, 2010
“A non-fiction book that reads like a spy thriller… The New Nobility is an important book, well written and meticulously researched by two journalists with the right sources, both inside and outside the FSB.”
Sunday Times (UK), September 19, 2010
“This compelling book is a distillation of [Soldavov & Borogan’s] work on the website. Drawing on considerable research it describes how the KGB, for decades at the violent vanguard of the communist dictatorship, switched effortlessly after the fall of the Soviet Union, preserving the stability of the new ultra-capitalist Kremlin; same people, many of the same methods, different name and economic system.”
The Guardian, September 25, 2010
“Because every page in this book gainsays his claim in the most forceful fashion imaginable that democracy is now decisive in defining Russia's political direction…. It is the product of two profoundly courageous Russian journalists who are meticulous about their reporting…. It is because they are Russian and superbly professional journalists that this book offers dozens of insights that no outsider could provide.”
The Guardian, October 3, 2010
“If all of this still feels too frivolous, turn to The New Nobility, an inside look at the KGB by a pair of fearless Russian journalists, Andrei Soldatov and Irina Borogan. Charting the organisation's heyday, decline and creeping return to power, it promises to raise the hairs on your neck as effectively as Ackroyd's ghost stories.”
Financial Times, October 18, 2010
“A detailed dissection of the FSB, the heir to the KGB, which still casts a long shadow over Moscow. For more than a decade the two authors have run the website Agentura.ru, a gold mine of information on the inner workings of the security services, particularly the FSB. In a country where many journalists have been attacked or killed for speaking truth to power, their reporting has been brave.”
Mother Jones, November 2010
“The New Nobility is an unnerving look at the real power behind the new Russia.”
Russian Life
“For those looking for yet more evidence that the security services are pulling the strings in modern Russia, look no further than this extraordinary new book from the fearless journalists at agentura.ru. Soldatov (who has written for Russian Life) and Borogan have compiled a history of FSB activities and operations over the past decade that paint a very vivid picture of a security service that has become Russia’s new ruling class… With amazing accounts of some of the most significant security crises and counter-terrorist activities of the past decade, Soldatov and Borogan offer insights into FSB operations that have not been offered anywhere to date… A must read.”
Irish Times, October 30, 2010
“Impressively detailed and unsettling… Soldatov and Borogan have done an excellent job in shining a light in some of Russia’s darkest corners.”
Moscow Times, November 12, 2010
“Fortunately there are inquisitive and intrepid journalists like Andrei Soldatov and Irina Borogan to bring nuance, analysis and old-fashioned shoe-leather reporting to the subject of the revival of Russia’s security services…. The authors pull no punches in their criticism of endemic corruption and incompetence in the country’s security forces. But they do so with a refreshing lack of hysteria, drawing conclusions from facts they were able to document and refusing to indulge in conspiracy theory.”
Literary Review, December 2010
“This important monograph, written by a brave and talented team, is a history of the KGB (now called the FSB) over the last fifteen years.”
New Statesman, December 6, 2010
“Drawing on extensive investigations, the two journalists have written a gripping account of how veterans of the KGB seized control of the Russian state… This book paints a chilling picture of a country dominated by a power-hungry clique. Anyone who wants to understand Putin’s brave new Russia should read it.”
Financial World (UK), December 2010
“A thorough and very brave examination of an organization that has a tight political, commercial and economic grip on Russia”
New York Review of Books, January 3, 2011
“As it has in earlier contests over leadership, the country’s all-powerful Federal Security Service (FSB) is bound to have a crucial part in deciding who will be the next president. (This agency made the original arrests in the Khodorkovsky case, discussed below, which has great significance for the presidential succession.) This is why The New Nobility, which explains how the FSB has evolved over the past decade into an organization with enormous political and economic influence, is such an important and timely book…. Using anonymous sources from within the security services and the Kremlin, along with on-the-spot reporting, Soldatov and Borogan have uncovered new and significant information on the FSB and its relations with the Russian leadership.”
About the Author
Andrei Soldatov and Irina Borogan are co-founders of the Agentura.Ru website. Soldatov worked for Novaya Gazeta from January 2006-November 2008. Agentura.Ru has been reported and featured in the New York Times, the Moscow Times, the Washington Post, Online Journalism Review, Le Monde, The Christian Science Monitor, CNN, Federation of American Scientists, BBC, as well in websites of The Centre for Counterintelligence and Security Studies, Center for Defence Information, The Library of Congress, Cambridge Security Programme. Agentura.Ru is quoted by The New York Times as "A Web Site That Came in From the Cold to Unveil Russian Secrets".
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