In this timely and incisive book, Sergei Medvedev argues that Russia's war in Ukraine was not merely a whim of Putin's obsession: rather, it was the result of two decades of authoritarian degradation and post-imperial ressentiment, a culmination of Putin's regime and of Russia's entire imperial history. Building on his prize-winning book The Return of the Russian Leviathan, Medvedev argues that it was not only Putin that started this war, but Russia itself, which, by and large, has imagined and embraced it with enthusiasm, seeking to relive its own military glory and colonial past.
'Medvedev represents the best of the Russian critical tradition. His clear writing and creative analysis stand out amidst the muddle of twenty-first-century writing about Russia. He has been right all along and he is right again in this book.'
Tim Snyder, Yale University
'In an ocean of recently published books on Putin and Putin's Russia, Medvedev's illuminating work stands on its own with its focus on Russia's Putin: Putin as an embodiment of Russia's national idea.'
Ivan Krastev, Centre for Liberal Strategies, Sofia
'Brilliant'
Victor Sebestyen, The Sunday Times
About the Author
Sergei Medvedev is a Fellow at the Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies at the University of Helsinki and a Professor at the Charles University in Prague.
Translated by Stephen Dalziel
