Putin’s People

How the KGB Took Back Russia and then Took on the West

By: Catherine Belton

Narrated by: Dugald Bruce-Lockhart

Length: 18 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

The Sunday Times best seller.

A Times and Sunday Times Book of the Year 2020.

A Daily Telegraph Book of the Year 2020.

The hacking of the 2016 US elections. The sponsorship of extremist politics in Europe. War in Ukraine. In recent years, Vladimir Putin's Russia has waged a concerted campaign to expand its influence and undermine Western institutions. But how and why did all this come about, and who has orchestrated it?

This rigorous and revelatory audiobook explains how this happened, Putin's rise to power and how Russian black cash is subverting the world.

In Putin's People, former Moscow correspondent and investigative journalist Catherine Belton tells the untold story of the rise of Vladimir Putin and the small group of KGB men surrounding him. Delving deep into the workings of Putin's Kremlin, Belton accesses key inside players to reveal how Putin replaced the free-wheeling tycoons of the Yeltsin era with a new generation of loyal oligarchs who in turn subverted their country's economy and legal system and expanded its influence in the West.

The result is a chilling and revelatory expose of the KGB's renaissance - a story that began long ago in the murk of the Soviet collapse when networks of operatives were able to siphon billions of dollars out of Russia and into the West. After Putin's takeover of the economy, some of these networks acquired new flows of cash to realise their goals. Based on many years of research, Belton charts the relentless seizure of private companies and the installation of those closest to Putin into the richest, highest seats of power.

Ranging from Moscow to London, Switzerland and Trump's America and introducing a colourful cast of characters, Putin's People is a gripping and terrifying account of how hopes for the new Russia went astray, with stark consequences for its inhabitants and, increasingly, the world.

©2020 Catherine Belton (P)2020 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic reviews

"Putin's People is meticulously researched and superbly written; terrifying in its scope and utterly convincing in its argument. It is a portrait of a group of men ruthless in their power, and careless of anyone else. This is the Putin book that we've been waiting for." (Oliver Bullough, author of Moneyland)

"Catherine Belton is quite simply the most detailed and best-informed journalist covering Russia. One hears so much grand punditry about the country, but if you want to know the terrifying facts, from the nexus of KGB, business and crime which was Putin's petri-dish, to the complex reality of the relationship with Trump, and if you want to see how all this combines into a whole new system, then this is the book for you." (Peter Pomerantsev)

"A ground-breaking investigative history of the rise of Vladimir Putin, a revealing examination of how power and money intersect in today’s Russia. Catherine Belton has pulled away the curtain on two decades of hidden financial networks and lucrative secret deals, exposing the inner workings of Putin & Co. in remarkable and disturbing detail. A real eye-opener." (David E. Hoffman, author of The Oligarchs: Wealth and Power in the New Russia)

If this is true, it’s revealing

Very nice book. Describes the “unique Russian path” that our president steered Russia towards. Assuming it’s true, of course.

Great listen, but produced with little flaws

highly recommend, an insight into modern politics, not only Russian, but also the USA and EU.

But: hope this will be fixed: between some chapters end, you listen that they have been overly edited, a word or a phrase may be a miss. listen to last 5 seconds of the chapters, will understand.

Basic knowledge for everyone

Clear explanation of the ”Russian intelligence interfering in *” cases and what is wrong with the regime, with witty descriptions for characters whose names may be unfamiliar or hard to remember. As a Russian who grew up abroad, I wish this was fiction that did not affect ordinary Russians’ lives (most of whom are quite disgusted by these dealings.)

The full Understanding of Putinism !

Funded by the fallout of the collapse of the Soviet empire, Putin's oligarchy has an effective grip on the financial world and gave the world the full brunt of malign Trumpism! The Putin state mafia put the Trump crime family in the white house through the greed of the Deutsche Bank.....

Starts out good, goes of the rails in the 2010s

The book is rather good up until the early 2010s. The author discredits herself jumping on the Trump Russia collusion band wagon even while admitting that the sanctions Trump imposed had heavy consequences for the Russian elite. No mention at all of Barrack Obama asking Putin for space during his second election or Hillary Clinton signing off on the sale of US uranium interests to Russian owned front company. Most laughably, Biden is made out as some type of anti-corruption VP. The detailed parts of the book are the transfer of power from the Yeltsin family to Putin and other former KGB.

Poor

Just a ramming up of facts.... no proper story line... the first part you think you skipped half the book.... the audio quality is the worst part as is the narrators voice.... the sound is so incredibly hollow..... I stopped after 3 hours....

What a dreary listen

I would have imagined that such lauded book by FT, the economist and the like would’ve been at least an interesting read, but what I got instead was a badly written propaganda puff piece about the boogeyman of old soviet era who are now lurking with iron behind every curtain. To add insult to injury it’s read by a guy I cannot stand, don’t know who the actor is, but I’ve come across his work before and he just doesn’t do it for me. If you’re looking for a good read, look on, because this isn’t it! Disappointing