Putin vs. the People

Putin v the People wrestles with perhaps the central conundrum of contemporary Russia: the endurance of support for Putin amid deepening disillusionment with the present and pessimism about the future. -Daniel Beer, The Guardian This work is well researched and well written and provides not only information on Putin's life and career, but extremely informative about how he attained his current popularity and status in Russia, and how he maintains it. -Ayse Dietrich, International Journal of Russian Studies [A] very readable book. -Martin Dewhirst, The Forum The book contains much interesting detail -Bill Bowring, SCRSS Digest Greene and Robertson provide a valuable insight into the potential longevity of Putin's power. -Yana Gorokhovskaia, Europe-Asia Studies Received an Honorable Mention from Davis Center Book Prize, sponsored by The Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies Groundbreaking research presented in a fresh and accessible style-this book, centering on the positive social and emotional responses of the Russian people to their autocratic political leadership, is a thought-provoking challenge to the cliches and stereotypes surrounding Vladimir Putin. -Edward Lucas, author of The New Cold War: Putin's Russia and the Threat to the West This engagingly written book concentrates on ordinary Russians, meticulously tracking their reactions to a complex but fragile regime where opposition is significant if limited, and Putin and his people are surprisingly dependent on each other -Sir Rodric Braithwaite, author and British Ambassador in Moscow 1988-92 Challenging many conventional assumptions about contemporary Russian society, this fresh, original analysis offers paradoxically an explanation for why Putin is popular-but also why his position is fragile. -Michael McFaul, Professor of Political Science at Stanford University and Former US Ambassador to Russia A deep dive into the complexities of Russian society, Putin's popularity and the protest movement that rocked the Kremlin. -Arkady Ostrovsky, author of The Invention of Russia