‘This is the most remarkable account so far of Putin’s rise … Groundbreaking … several hair-raising revelations … Relentless and convincing. There are gobsmacking moments … This is a superb book’
OBSERVER

‘A fearless, fascinating account … Reads at times like a John le Carré novel… A groundbreaking and meticulously researched anatomy of the Putin regime, Belton’s book shines a light on the pernicious threats Russian money and influence now pose to the west’
GUARDIAN

‘Modern Russia in full, horrifying technicolour … this riveting, immaculately researched book is arguably the best single volume written about Putin, the people around him and perhaps even about contemporary Russia itself in the past three decades’
PETER FRANKOPAN, FINANCIAL TIMES

‘Books about modern Russia abound … Belton has surpassed them all. Her much-awaited book is the best and most important on modern Russia. It benefits from a meticulous compilation of open sources, but also from the accounts of disillusioned Kremlin insiders, former business cronies and some remarkably candid people still high up in the system. The result is hair-raising.’
THE TIMES

‘An outstanding exposé of Putin and his criminal pals … [A] long-awaited, must read book’
SUNDAY TIMES

‘Arguably the biggest story of the 21st century so far. In forensically unravelling it, journalist Catherine Belton has done a great service, producing a book that western experts on modern Russia acknowledge as vital to our understanding of the Putin phenomenon’
DAILY MAIL, BOOK OF THE WEEK

‘A serious, absolutely timely warning. No book has documented the Russian president’s leadership so indefatigably and compellingly’
DAILY TELEGRAPH

‘Meticulously researched and superbly written; terrifying in its scope and utterly convincing in its argument … The Putin book that we've been waiting for’
OLIVER BULLOUGH

‘An extraordinarily important book’
CHRIS PATTEN

A Times Book of the Year 2021 – The Story of Russia’s History and Politics