Putin’s People- Book Review
Few men have defined the 2000s as much as Vladmir Putin. A shadowy, oppressive presence lurking in the cold reaches of Eurasia, it’s easy to forget the influence he holds, even as the Russia-Ukraine War rages on. But this book shines light on those dark corners. It tells a story that is as enlightening and fascinating as it is horrifying and twisted. It’s a story that captures the duality of man and their institutions, as both indestructible and easily corruptible. It speaks of men who possess both uncanny instincts and unnerving cruelty and ambition. And it’s a tale that grows more and more relevant everyday.
For many here in America, or even to our friends in Europe, we think of Russia now as a different beast from it’s Soviet predecessors. Yes, communism is gone as is the dread and fear of the legendary Red Army. And yes- the stereotypes largely remain- cold, austere, nihilistic and conniving. Vodka, AKs, tundra and oil. Perhaps a succinct summary of this book would be that “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” And for the KGB men of Russia, the thrones they sit on now are paved with the careful planning and ruthless action that defined their Communist past.
In this dense and well researched volume from Catherine Belton, we learn exactly how this happened. From the crumbling Soviet Union and it’s tense outpost in East Germany to Yeltsin’s weak but aspiring democracy, to the Russian Imperialist plutocracy we have today, we learn how the KGB in effect took over Russia. It’s really incredible how resilient and unshakeable these really horrible people were. They had a plan dating back to about a half decade before the collapse of the Soviet Union. They knew capitalism was coming and they anticipated in their favor.
What this book is really about is the unyielding will of very intelligent and very cruel people. They old Russian establishment seemingly were down bad, on the back foot, in the aftermath of the Soviet Union’s collapse. The new leaders of their Westernized democracy, mostly Yeltsin, entered a situation that was not at all ideal for them. The big thing- the money was gone. As the Communist Party fell, banned after a failed coup, the KGB men had been left with the keys. Among these men was a young and ambitious Vladmir Putin.
One thing this book does well is show you Putin’s journey and humanize him without completely piercing the veil. And that sounds a little disappointing. We never learn the real soul of who this Putin guy is. What we are presented with instead is this trailing narrative of his actions, as if we are tracking him through the carnage of history. You’re never directly told exactly what Putin wants. Yes- “restore Imperial Russia”, “control capital flows”, “weaken the Western hegdemony”, and “reclaim the Soviet states.”
But what does Putin, the person want? Well, it seems like he really likes money. A lot. But he doesn’t like being associated with having money. That’s one thing about him that’s interesting. He’s very big on this idea of presenting himself as a public servant who makes no money, while also doing all manner of often complex and shady things to get all the money. It’s interesting and also kind of ominous. The scale of Putin’s consolidation means he was doing this for like a decade and no one really did anything. Perhaps the greatest irony of Putin is that his captive oligarchy might actually be a net benefit in the United States if said leader was a decent person.
Another thing Putin cares about- his image as a “strongman.” It becomes clear early on that Putin may be a spy, but in a way he wanted to be a soldier. A slim, balding man of about 5’5, he’s exactly the type of dude incels think never gets women. In fact, he is a cunning and violent dictator who, based on footage and accounts, likes dogs more than people. But to the Russians? Well he’s the man!! He rides motorcycles with motorcycle gangs, camps in Siberia, cheats on his wife with ballerinas (though I don’t think he meant for that to be part of the campaign) and is willing to use violent force at the drop of a hat. He’s exactly the kind of guy that everyone fatally underestimated. But, it’s not entirely their fault- because Putin is also a master of disguise at the deepest level, from his rhetoric to his very political views. And somehow, underneath all this, I have to give him credit because he is somehow very internally consistent. He plays by a different set of rules but he does play by rules, for better or worse.
This book is really well written, but as I said before, it is dense and because it’s about Russia, it’s got Russian names, which are difficult for a lot of Americans to process at scale. There’s a lot of other Vladmirs and even then guys have really long names and there’s a lot of guys who have these long names. Some of them stick out- Pugachev, Putin’s banker, Timchenko, Putin’s other banker, Medvedev, his second in command/lap dog (think Starscream but dumb), Kharkadovsky (persecuted billionaire) and Abramovich (owns Chelsea, independently famous). There’s a lot of a bankers and goons in this book and they’re all pretty interesting actually. Money is also flowing really freely throughout. There’s a definite “insider/outsider” dynamic shown, where KGB men and their associates get all the funds and the common man gets just enough.
This is that hard part of the review where I have to wrap it up a bit, because otherwise I’d be here all day. It’s an excellent book, well researched, thorough and told in an order that engages the reader and dips them right into the deep end without drowning you. It’s more or less chronologically told, except for the hook in the prologue, and it really smoothly guides you through this stuff as it happens. For being so dense and complex, it’s very readable. It has the light touch of a business style journalist. Which makes sense- Catherine Belton was the Moscow correspondent for the Financial Times. It’s not wonder she was able to make these pretty amazing connections. Of course she’s being sued to hell and back for this book by some of the billionaires mentioned, but nothing will come of it.
Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone interested in contemporary history and current events. It’s an engrossing read and moves much faster than it’s 500 pages would suggest. And the subject is pretty topical these days for a lot of different reasons. Whether it’s insight into the man behind the Russia-Ukraine War, the dangerous cronyism of state-capitalism or simply the psychology of a dictator, there’s a lot of reasons why giving Putin’s People a read is worth your time.
