Description
Book SynopsisIn 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.
Trade Review‘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
‘The outstanding clarity of Medvedev’s thought and style places him in the front rank of Russian-born critics of Putin.’
Financial Times
‘The passionate Medvedev is the one to read for those who would like to sign up for a crusade’
Sheila Fitzpatrick, Sydney Morning Herald
‘convincing’
Money Week
‘A searing, deeply disturbing book that shows how violent the country has become’
Victor Sebestyen, The Oldie
Table of ContentsIntroduction. Method in this Madness
Part I. The Anatomy of Violence
The State Came After the Body
Back to 1937
The Final Diagnosis
People as ‘The New Oil’
The Zoos of Terror
The Generator of Entropy
Part II. The Memory Crusad
Kolyma by the Kremlin
Memorial to Russian Resentment
Thus Spake Zhirinovsky
The Offering Made to the Ninth of May
A Long Farewell to Empire
Part III. The War Nation
The Zombie Apocalypse
Revenge of the Underground Man
The Z Virus
Russia Inside Out
Mobilization as Russian Fate
The Age of the Sledgehammer
War as a National Idea
The Unfinished Work of 1945
Notes
Index
