From Publishers Weekly
Judah's dynamic account of the rise (and fall-in-progress) of Russian President Vladimir Putin convincingly addresses just why and how Putin became so popular, and traces the decisions and realizations that seem to be leading to his undoing. The former Reuters Moscow reporter maps Putin's career and impact on modern Russia through wide-ranging research and has an eye for illuminating and devastating quotes, as when a reporter in dialogue with Putin says, "I lost the feeling that I lived in a free country. I have not started to feel fear." To which Putin responds, "Did you not think that this was what I was aiming for: that one feeling disappeared, but the other did not appear?" His style, however, feels hurried, an effect of which is occasional losses of narrative clarity. In some cases limited information is available, and his pace-maintaining reliance on euphemistic, metaphorical, and journalistic language can leave readers underserved and confused. Judah is at his best when being very specific, and perhaps the book's achievement is that it makes comprehensible how Putin got to where he is; those wondering how Putin became and remained so popular will benefit from this sober, well-researched case. (June)
Review
"Ben Judah, a young freelance writer, paints a more journalistic – and more passionate – picture in ‘Fragile Empire’. He shuttles to and fro across Russia’s vast terrain, finding criminals, liars, fascists and crooked politicians, as well as the occasional saintly figure." —The Economist
(
The Economist 2013-05-09)
"A beautifully written and very lively study of Russia that argues that the political order created by Vladimir Putin is stagnating – undermined by corruption and a failure to modernise economically. Judah’s reporting stretches from the Kremlin to Siberia and has a clear moral sense, without being preachy." — Gideon Rachman, Financial Times
(Gideon Rachman
Financial Times 2013-06-29)
"Judah is an intrepid reporter and classy political scientist [...] His lively account of his remote adventures forms the most enjoyable part of Fragile Empire, and puts me in mind of Chekhov's famous 1890 journey to Sakhalin Island." — Luke Harding, The Guardian
(Luke Harding
The Guardian 2013-06-27)
"The best of a recent crop of books on the Russian president, it describes the essential corruption of the system Putin created (supposedly) to clean up the country. It spans the extent of this huge country as well as the decade and a half that Putin has been in power." — Oliver Bullough, The Telegraph
(Oliver Bullough
The Telegraph 2013-07-11)
“Judah’s outstanding Fragile Empire travels up and down the curve of Putin’s popularity. . .This is a familiar narrative but Judah, only in his mid-twenties, explains it all with economy and panache. . .What makes Fragile Empire important, however, is its dissection of Putin’s decline in popularity in 2008. It is the first to tell the story not just of the Moscow protest movement but of the less visible, but no less real, dissatisfaction beyond the capital.”—Neil Buckley, Financial Times
(Neil Buckley
Financial Times 2013-07-20)
“[Judah’s] excellent book provides a wide-ranging and highly critical account of the current state of Russia. . . He also gives an insightful historical perspective on the rise of Putin.”—Amy Knight, New York Review of Books
(Amy Knight
New York Review of Books)
"Fragile Empire [is] a fluent and plausible account of Russian politics and society in the wake of the recent protests."—Andrew Monaghan, TLS
(Andrew Monaghan
Times Literary Review 2013-11-08)
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