NIGHTLY READING THREAD: Welcome to Edition #98 of #GMGReads! Every night through this weird (and sad) time, I've been tweeting out a list of my five favorite books around a general theme—and a link to an indie bookstore where you can order them online....
I've done a whole bunch of lists touching on various aspects of Russian and Soviet history, fiction, and so forth, but tonight wanted to mention some favorites about understanding modern Russia and Vladimir Putin, all available tonight from @PoliticsProse:
(Note: It's worth noting how dangerous writing about modern Russia can be, which is why we should honor those who do it so well. Two of these authors, Anna Politkovskaya and Paul Klebnikov, were murdered for their reporting.)
1) Bill Browder's (@Billbrowder) RED NOTICE is written as a real life thriller about the lengths to which Putin's Russia goes to corrupt the basic tenets of the rule of law: politics-prose.com/book/978147675…
PS: If you're following the nutty news from John Bolton's book, you might have seen how prominent Browder plays in Putin's mind:
2) Masha Gessen (@mashagessen) has written two fantastic books about Putin's Russia—a biography of him, MAN WITHOUT A FACE, politics-prose.com/book/978159448… and a broader book about the return of totalitarianism in Russia, THE FUTURE IS HISTORY politics-prose.com/book/978159463…
3) Paul Klebinov's GODFATHER OF THE KREMLIN is really helpful in understanding the rise of the oligarch in the 1990s: politics-prose.com/book/978015601…
4) A trio of interesting and insightful books on the Russian people, psyche, and wrestling with its Communist past: Oliver Bullough's (@OliverBullough) LAST MAN IN RUSSIA politics-prose.com/book/978015601… ....
... David Satter's (@DavidSatter) IT WAS A LONG TIME AGO AND IT NEVER HAPPENED ANYWAY politics-prose.com/book/978030019… and Peter Pomerantsev's (@peterpomeranzev) NOTHING IS TRUE AND EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE: politics-prose.com/book/978161039…
5) Then two fantastic broader histories of modern Russia: Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) & Susan Glasser's (@sbg1) classic KREMLIN RISING politics-prose.com/book/978159797… and Anna Politkovskaya's PUTIN'S RUSSIA: politics-prose.com/book/978080508…
Those are tonight's #GMGReads. Tune in tomorrow night for #99, as we start the 15th week and count down the final three entries. What did you read this weekend? Do you have any favorite books on Russia or the Soviet Union? Share! #avidreadersunite
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