Catherine Belton's "Putin's People: An Inside Look at How the KGB Returned to Power and Confronted the West"

TrekPyrenees: Llibre que t'enganxa.
Aquí pots veure tota la història que ens ha portat a la situació actual. Els occidentals hem comès molts errors.

Spain on Dec 06, 2023

Dr. Frank Seifert: damit man erfährt worüber uns der ÖRR, obwohl in Russland vor Ort, nicht rechtzeitig informiert hat

Germany on Nov 11, 2023

Harshit Kumawat: The book is remarkable in its details, covering the time period from Putin's spy days in Dresden to 2020 US presidential election. The author gives a comprehensive account of the rise of Putin from a mere spy of KGB to ruthless leader of Russia.
The book tells us about people closest to Putin and how they came to control almost all of the strategic sectors of Russian economy. Once they had everything under their firm control they began using the money from these industries for personal use and also for influence operations in Europe and US.
How Putin came to power after Boris Yeltsin, how he reversed the political changes made during Yeltsin era, how he brought the media and rich businessmen under his control, how he and his secret service agency siphoned billions of dollars from Russia and parked that money in European countries as well as in US, how he maintained and strengthened his grip on power in Russia, how he subverted the judiciary and parliament in Russia, how Russia intervened in US and EU politics. All these questions will be answered after reading this book.
A must read book for people interested in geopolitics and in Russia.

India on Jul 02, 2023

Sconsetgal: This was a terrific, well documented book. It is very long so i got through it by listening to it on audible while taking my daily walks. The reader can never retain all the Russian names but several points are driven home:1) Putin & the KGB rule Russia2) they are set on destroying our US democracy by creating chaos among us internally 3) they cosy up to wealthy Americans to influence them to influence American politics negatively and favor Russia 4) the Russian people are doomed as the wealth of their country has been siphoned off by greedy, corrupt Russian oligarchs 4) everyday Russians accept this due to state blocked media and state fomented sentimental nationalism; truth is suppressed to the average Russian.5) the average American is also unaware of being manipulated because little reading goes on

United States on Jun 11, 2022

Quebec Customer: An incredible piece of work with endless details about the people around Putin. I highly recommend it. I will give it five stars but warn the reader to be ready to work hard to grasp the complexity of the machinations of Putin and his people. This book is not for the faint of heart. I can’t wait for a second edition years from now after Putin is gone. This will probably take a lot longer than one might think, unless his people turn on him.

Canada on Sep 12, 2021

Michael Griswold: Putin’s People tells the decades long story of how the security services and government friendly Oligarchs usurped any meaningful attempts at democracy and instead created a state where corruption and parasitic behavior became the norm and any hopes for a democratic Russia went flying out the window. It was a state built on the back of false realities to a great extent.

While the Soviet Union was descending into chaos of failed reforms, economic ruin, and political turmoil, men within the Soviet Security Services were grabbing the machinery of underlying power within the Soviet state and waiting for the moment to strike. These folks were very adept in cultivating relationships turning from law-and-order communists, to democrats, to super capitalists whatever the political winds in Russia were at the moment.

The authors go through in great detail as to how these networks were set up to enrich these security men and make them the ultimate benefactors of a hallowed out, shadowy, Russian economy, so they became very wealthy. They also could position themselves as the indispensable men of the Russian state, even as they peddled a false narrative of the Soviet Union that...

United States on May 04, 2021

Rita J. Newhouse: Putin's People by Catherine Belton
Putin's People: How the KGB Took Back Russia and Then Took On the West
by Catherine Belton

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RJ Newhouse's review
Feb 01, 2021 · edit

really liked it

So many details, so many Russian names ! A little hard to keep them all straight, but then, it is named Putin's PEOPLE.Putin pushed to the fore to replace Yeltsin so the communists would not again take power, a move later regretted when it became obvious that the new oligarchs from the end of the Soviet Union became replaced by new ones belonging to the KGB in cahoots with Russia's top crime bosses, all condoned but always denied by Putin. Money was laundered thru shell companies, newly formed banks and used in the Western NATO countries to undermine governments, politicians and bring them under the sway of Putin's Russia, a system set up by the KGB during the Soviet Union and maintained after its demise. In America, the Russian mafia, all associated with the above , hung out at Trump's casino, The Taj Mahal. Russians would take the laundered money, make plans to build luxurious hotels, apt. bldgs. and then, pay trump millions of dollars just to have the...

United States on Feb 01, 2021

Cliente de Kindle: This is the Best reporting on Putin's activities I have read. Great insights and impressive interviews. Tons of data and financial análisis backing every assertion.

Mexico on Jan 04, 2021

B. Robinson: PUTIN’S PEOPLE
By Catherine Belton
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2020
500 pages of text, 32 illustrations, 96 pages of defining notes, 35.00 USD

Reviewed by Ben Robinson

In 1990 two things happened on Earth. The Gorbachev 80’s came to a crashing halt, and Donald Trump was visited by Russian gangsters who partied with him at 3am in Atlantic City at his Taj Mahal casino which he claimed to spend over one billion dollars on. Apparently the NJ Gaming Commission was therefore completely surprised when this self-styled billionaire (he wasn’t), was suddenly facing bankruptcy and many violations for not reporting transactions by one person for more than $10,000 in one 24-hour period. Russian pop stars filled the gaudy Taj halls with people who’d spend $100,000 in less than a weekend. Don’s place became the place to party with oligarchs looking to spend a weekend sacrificing virgins with no questions asked about the dead fourteen-year-old in the tight dress in a dumpster. “What do you care? She was a hooker!” those arrested and then let go were heard to say. Welcome to Trump nightlife 90’s style. The Russian lock step to dominating America was only...

United States on Sep 02, 2020