Alexander Kurbsky, a famous Russian writer and ex-paratrooper, fakes his escape from Russia and infiltrates British and American intelligence at the highest levels. He has his own motivations for doing the most effective job possible, which entails murdering anyone in his way--including Charles Ferguson, Sean Dillon and the rest of the group known informally as the "Prime Minister's private army."

"In 1999, the "Family" surrounding Boris Yeltsin went looking for a successor to the ailing and increasingly unpopular president. Vladimir Putin, with very little governmental or administrative experience--he'd been deputy mayor of St. Petersburg, and briefly, director of the secret police--nevertheless seemed the perfect choice: a "faceless" creature whom Yeltsin and his cronies could mold in their own image. Russia and an infatuated West were determined...

"How the West's obsession with Vladimir Putin prevents it from understanding Russia: It is impossible to think of Russia today without considering Vladimir Putin. More than any other major national leader, he personifies his country in the eyes of the outside world and dominates Western media coverage of Russia to an extraordinary extent. In Russia itself, he is likewise the center of attention for detractors and supporters alike. But as Tony Wood...

"The epic tale of the rise to power of Russia's current president--of his emergence from shrouded obscurity and deprivation to become one of the most consequential and complicated leaders in modern history. Former New York Times Moscow bureau chief Steven Lee Myers has followed Vladimir Putin's path for many years, and gives us the fullest, most absorbing account we have of his rise to power. This gripping narrative elucidates a cool and calculating...