Comment

The Man Without a Face

the Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin
Feb 11, 2017altybiz rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
For me and I suspect for many others, the timeliness of reading this book right now is important. Masha Gessen was a leading professional journalist in Russia and demonstrates her credibility with an extensive notes section and index. She talks about Putin's approach to change and his devotion to the KGB and then FSB. Bottom line is he's a guy who likes to work behind the scenes planning and managing political outcomes rather than being in the spotlight himself. She does a great job of portraying the times and showing in detail who were some of the key movers and shakers and how Putin did or didn't mix with them. This author lost friends who were also professionals, especially in journalism, and describes in detail how various deaths occurred through a myriad methods -- poisoning, shooting, mass killings and more. If you think that Putin is "just a guy trying to look out for his country", like one of my relatives thinks, then think again! He is a monster sociopath who's been bleeding the country of billions of dollars. Now here's the important part -- think of him working with a fellow pathological narcissist, Donald Trump, and you have a very frightening combination. Both in the instance if they work together to exploit millions of people for their own wealth, and in the instance that if they clash, it can be explosive. Because both of them are narcissists who believe that they and they alone are correct about everything, that they will tolerate no dissent from others, they are vindictive, and when challenged, are instantly explosive. Also they both think they're smarter than they are. Read this book.