The New Tsar

By Steven Lee Myers,

Book cover of The New Tsar: The Rise and Reign of Vladimir Putin

Book description

The epic tale of Vladimir Putin's path to power, as he emerged from obscurity to become one of the world's most important and dangerous leaders.

Former New York Times Moscow Bureau Chief Steven Lee Myers has followed Putin since well before the recent events in the Ukraine, and gives us…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked The New Tsar as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Myers presents a powerful narrative of Putin’s rise from being an apparent “accidental president” to his consolidation of power and ability to use state terror to achieve dictatorial power in an authoritarian regime. The biography chapters show Putin emerging as a teenage street thug whose family suffered during World War II to his rise in Leningrad and then Kremlin politics where he emerged as a KGB agent in Dresden during the Fall of the Soviet Union in 1989-90. Putin was obviously traumatized by this experience and returning to Russia he became involved in Kremlin politics, eventually succeeding Boris Yeltsin as…

Want books like The New Tsar?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like The New Tsar.

Browse books like The New Tsar

Book cover of Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin
Book cover of The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine
Book cover of Ukraine Diaries: Dispatches from Kiev

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,355

readers submitted
so far, will you?

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in the Soviet Union, Russia, and power?

The Soviet Union 378 books
Russia 387 books
Power 43 books