Belton, former Moscow correspondent for the Financial Times, did TONS of research for this book, and she was able to put together a rather cohesive picture of how modern-day Russia has been shaped by "KGB capitalism". In the book, Putin's rise to power, his tactics to cement his position and his inf ...more

Russia has played the West; Russia has played their own citizens.

Catherine Belton's excellent study of Russia as it emerged from the Cold War thru to 2020 is detailed, well-sourced, highly-readable and bleak. Bleak because, as many already know and suspect to varying degrees, Putin's Russia has, muc ...more

You know you’re reading about a frightening individual when the thought crosses your mind, “Is there any chance I could be assassinated just for posting a review of this book?”

It is a pretty ludicrous thought, but the fate of so many in “Putin’s People” allows it to creep in. A lot of what is prese ...more

Page 443-44 (my book)

The West had always viewed Russia’s economy as a resource-based basket case, incapable of the productivity gains of the West. But to see Russia through that prism was to miss the short-term ambitions of Putin’s security men. They didn’t particularly care about the economic well- ...more

4 ☆

"I want to warn Americans. As a people, you are very naive about Russia and its intentions. You believe because the Soviet Union no longer exists, Russia now is your friend. It isn't, and I can show you how the SVR is trying to destroy the US even today and even more than the KGB did during the

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