Sign-In
Cart
Putin The Man and Power
Paperback
Biographies GeneralPolitical Biographies
Currently unavailable to order
Please enter your email and a message will be sent to you when this product becomes available on our website.
Publisher: David Mercer
Published: Jan 3 2026
Pages: 166
Weight: 0.37
Height: 0.38 Width: 5.00 Depth: 8.00
Language: English
This book is a sweeping, deeply researched portrait of Vladimir Putin and the era he has shaped-one of the most consequential periods in modern global history. Written with clarity, narrative force, and strategic insight, it moves beyond headlines to explain how a little-known former intelligence officer rose to power, rebuilt a fractured state, and reasserted Russia as a central actor on the world stage.
Rather than reducing Putin to caricature or controversy, this book asks a more serious question: How does power actually work in a world shaped by collapse, insecurity, and competition? The answer unfolds across three decades of Russian transformation, tracing Putin's journey from post-war Leningrad to the Kremlin, from national recovery to global confrontation.
Each chapter explores a critical phase of leadership: the restoration of state authority after the chaos of the 1990s; the reining in of oligarchic power; the rebuilding of institutions; the forging of a disciplined governing elite; and the deliberate crafting of a leadership image built on endurance rather than spectacle. These domestic foundations are paired with a clear-eyed examination of foreign policy-from early cooperation with the West, to growing distrust, to the decisive assertion of sovereignty in Georgia, Crimea, Syria, and ultimately Ukraine.
What sets this book apart is its insistence on coherence. Whether one agrees or disagrees with Putin's decisions, the book demonstrates that they follow a consistent internal logic shaped by history, security perception, and lived experience. From the collapse of the Soviet Union to NATO expansion, from sanctions to war, each development is shown not as an isolated event but as part of a cumulative strategic environment in which choices narrowed and consequences intensified.
The narrative does not shy away from controversy or cost. War, sanctions, protest, and isolation are treated with gravity and seriousness. Yet the book avoids polemic. Instead, it offers readers the tools to understand why Russia acted as it did, why pressure produced endurance rather than capitulation, and why the global order itself is changing as a result.
Written in a compelling, authoritative voice, the book blends political biography, strategic analysis, and historical storytelling. It is accessible to general readers while rigorous enough for scholars, policymakers, and professionals. By grounding global events in leadership psychology and institutional realities, it explains not only what happened, but why it unfolded the way it did.
This is not a book about approval or condemnation. It is a book about power-how it is built, defended, challenged, and remembered. It explores leadership under pressure, decision-making when options disappear, and the enduring tension between stability and freedom in times of upheaval.
In the final chapters, the book confronts legacy. What does Vladimir Putin leave behind? A restored but hardened state. A world more multipolar and more dangerous. A Russia that chose endurance over accommodation and sovereignty over integration. History's verdict is still unfolding-but the framework, the choices, and the consequences are now clear.
For readers seeking to understand Russia, global power, and the forces reshaping the 21st century, this book is essential. It does not tell you what to think-it shows you how history, strategy, and leadership collide when the stakes are highest.
Also from
Mercer, David
Exploring and Locating Social Work: A Foundation for Practice
Mercer, David
Hill, Darren
Agu, Lorraine
Paperback
Also in
Biographies General
Bluesland: Portraits of Thirteen Major American Blues Masters
Toby Byron (ED.)
Pete Welding (ED.)
Hardcover
Karl Popper - The Formative Years, 1902 1945: Politics and Philosophy in Interwar Vienna
Hacohen, Malachi Haim
Hardcover
The Children of Athena: Greek Intellectuals in the Age of Rome: 150 Bc0-400 AD
Freeman, Charles
Hardcover
Make It a Double: From Wretched to Wondrous: Tales of One Woman's Lifelong Discovery of Whisky
Sackier, Shelley
Hardcover
The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race
Isaacson, Walter
Hardcover
An Enemy Such as This: Larry Casuse and the Fight for Native Liberation in One Family on Two Continents Over Three Centuries
Correia, David
Hardcover
Agents of Chaos: Thomas King Forçade, High Times, and the Paranoid End of the 1970s
Howe, Sean
Hardcover
The Secret Life of the Savoy: Glamour and Intrigue at the World's Most Famous Hotel
Williams, Olivia
Paperback
The Badger: The Life of Bernard Hinault and the Legacy of French Cycling
Fotheringham, William
Paperback
The Devil's Diary: Alfred Rosenberg and the Stolen Secrets of the Third Reich
Wittman, Robert K.
Kinney, David
Paperback
Florence Kelley and the Nation's Work: The Rise of Womens Political Culture, 1830-1900
Sklar, Kathryn Kish
Paperback
The Rise and Fall of Anne Boleyn: Family Politics at the Court of Henry VIII
Warnicke, Retha M.
Paperback
A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II
Purnell, Sonia
Hardcover
Living with a Wild God: A Nonbeliever's Search for the Truth about Everything
Ehrenreich, Barbara
Paperback
Seafaring Women: Adventures of Pirate Queens, Female Stowaways, and Sailors' Wives
Cordingly, David
Paperback
The Butcher, the Embezzler, and the Fall Guy: A Family Memoir of Scandal and Greed in the Meat Industry
Cherington, Gretchen
Paperback
Gift of Power: The Life and Teachings of a Lakota Medicine Man
Lame Deer, Chief Archie Fire
Erdoes, Richard
Paperback
My Own Devices: True Stories from the Road on Music, Science, and Senseless Love
Dessa Wander
Hardcover
Nobody's Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice
Giuffre, Virginia Roberts
Hardcover
How to Be Okay When Nothing Is Okay: Tips and Tricks That Kept Me Alive, Happy, and Creative in Spite of Myself
Lawson, Jenny
Hardcover
Family of Spies: A World War II Story of Nazi Espionage, Betrayal, and the Secret History Behind Pearl Harbor
Kuehn, Christine
Hardcover
Dangerous, Dirty, Violent, and Young: A Fugitive Family in the Revolutionary Underground
Dohrn, Zayd Ayers
Hardcover
A Walk in the Park: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon
Fedarko, Kevin
Paperback
Catch the Devil: A True Story of Murder, Deception, and Injustice on the Gulf Coast
Colloff, Pamela
Hardcover
Through Mom's Eyes: Simple Wisdom from Mothers Who Raised Extraordinary Humans
Jones, Sheinelle
Hardcover