The New Tsar

The Rise and Reign of Vladimir Putin

By: Steven Lee Myers

Narrated by: René Ruiz

Length: 22 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

“A riveting, immensely detailed biography of Putin that explains in full-bodied, almost Shakespearian fashion why he acts the way he does.” –Robert D. Kaplan

The New Tsar is the book to listen to if you want to understand how Vladimir Putin sees the world and why he has become one of the gravest threats to American security.

The epic tale of the rise to power of Russia's current president—the only complete biography in English–that fully captures his emergence from shrouded obscurity and deprivation to become one of the most consequential and complicated leaders in modern history, by the former New York Times Moscow bureau chief.

In a gripping narrative of Putin’s rise to power as Russia’s president, Steven Lee Myers recounts Putin’s origins—from his childhood of abject poverty in Leningrad, to his ascension through the ranks of the KGB, and his eventual consolidation of rule. Along the way, world events familiar to readers, such as September 11th and Russia’s war in Georgia in 2008, as well as the 2014 annexation of Crimea and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, are presented from never-before-seen perspectives. This book is a grand, staggering achievement and a breathtaking look at one man’s rule. On one hand, Putin’s many reforms—from tax cuts to an expansion of property rights—have helped reshape the potential of millions of Russians whose only experience of democracy had been crime, poverty, and instability after the fall of the Soviet Union. On the other hand, Putin has ushered in a new authoritarianism, unyielding in his brutal repression of revolts and squashing of dissent. Still, he retains widespread support from the Russian public.

The New Tsar is a narrative tour de force, deeply researched, and utterly necessary for anyone fascinated by the formidable and ambitious Vladimir Putin, but also for those interested in the world and what a newly assertive Russia might mean for the future.

©2015 Steven Lee Myers (P)2015 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Steven Lee Myers’s The New Tsar is not the first biography of Putin, but it is the strongest to date. Judicious and comprehensive, it pulls back the veil… from one of the world’s most secretive leaders. What is most striking, given the aura of steely consistency that Putin cultivates, is how he has changed over the years…. The great strength of Myers’s book is the way it shows how chance events and Putin’s own degeneration gradually cleared the path to the Ukraine crisis… Putin emerges as neither a KGB automaton, nor the embodiment of Russian historical traditions, nor an innocent victim of Western provocations and NATO’s hubris, but rather as a flawed individual who made his own choices at crucial moments and thereby shaped history.” —Daniel Treisman, The Washington Post

“What Steven Lee Myers gets so right in The New Tsar, his comprehensive new biography — the most informative and extensive so far in English — is that at bottom Putin simply feels that he’s the last one standing between order and chaos… What Myers offers is the portrait of a man swinging from crisis to crisis with one goal: projecting strength… A knowledgeable and thorough biography… Putin himself now represents the chaos he so abhors — the chaos that will surely come in his wake.” —Gal Beckerman, The New York Times Book Review

"Steven Lee Myers coherently, comprehensively, and evenhandedly tells the story not only of Putin’s glory years, but also of his hardscrabble childhood in Leningrad, his checkered academic career, his undistinguished work as a KGB agent in East Germany, his remarkably loyal service to the mayor of post-Soviet St. Petersburg, and his reluctant but speedy climb through President Yeltin’s ministries in the late 1990s."— Bob Blaisdell, The Christian Science Monitor

TSAR PUTIN?

Vladimir Putin is no Tsar. Steven Lee Myers has written a highly polished and informative biography but fails to convince one that Putin is a Tsar. Putin is more Richard Nixon than Catherine the Great. Putin, like Nixon, is smart and thin-skinned. Putin, like Nixon, makes personnel decisions based on loyalty, and views the world in real-politic terms.

Russia is unlikely to be ruled by a Tsar again. Its population is better educated; and aware of the value of qualified freedom. This qualified freedom insures relative social stability, and security. Russia is equally unlikely to return to U. S. S. R.’s hegemonic control of independent nations because ethnic nationalism and the desire for freedom are unquenchable thirsts. Forcing the Ukraine or Georgia to return to the Russian block or quelling Chechen resistance is, in the long run, beyond the military strength of Putin or his successors. Reassembly of a form of the U. S. S. R. is only conceivable based on political accommodation based on economic influence and independent federation.

Just as Watergate exposed the hubris of Nixon, Putin will suffer from the nature of being a flawed human being. Putin, like Nixon, is a great patriot of his country but neither exhibits or exhibited the inner moral compass that make good leaders great leaders.

A comprehensive and complete account of one of the world's most important men

The book does a good job of telling a story that is still in progress, and one in which many of the details are still shrouded in the secrecy of the recent past. It is a remarkably unbiased account, given the current political climate.

Putin is, without doubt, the most enigmatic figure on the world stage. He, by all indications, will continue to lead Russia for years to come. This book is in excellent summary of his life, and provides valuable insights into the decisions he may make in the future.

The main failing of the book is it's most tantalizing quality – there seem to be many 'holes' in Putin's past which, despite the author's best efforts, seem incomplete. As a reader, I enjoyed speculating on what more to the story there may have been.

Highly recommended.

Very comprehensive

Absolutely the most well written and comprehensive history of the man Putin remaking global affairs.

A Great Biography

A great biography on one of the defining characters of our age. Detail oriented and unbiased, the biographer helps you see the world through both Putins eyes, and those of his critics. Hard to put down!

Must read in this political environment

This book provides the necessary information to get one on speed with the mainstream media's image of Putin. The account of Putin's life after presidency could be fact checked I guess but the stories from his earlier life sometimes seem unreal. Overall, I would recommend it for curious readers. The performance was good.

Putin good and bad

Living in a neighbour country I liked the idea of learning a bit more about Putin was interesting. But I generally don't find politics that interesting, so I put this on mostly to have something to fall a sleep to. But I kept listening to this book until the end. Never going book to my good fiction book. It starts with his parents in ww2. And I learned a lot about Putin.

Curiously though the author seems to know more about Putin the KGB agent than Putin the president. Not that this book explores at length that time as well. But you do notice the sources are further away from Putin and that there is more speculation.
A very interesting book that presents both the good and the bad.

Great book, except the narrator

The book is an excellent read. I needed to listen at 1.5 speed, because the narrator spoke so slowly. At that speed, it is excellent.

Outstanding

Absolutely required reading (or listening) for anyone wishing to better understand the history, trajectory, and power dynamics of the new Russia. Insightful, remarkable in its level of detail, and effective in creating as objective and complete a view of Putin as possible. This is a truly great book.

Vladimir Putin is Russia's ultimate power

very well researched book with an impressive and disturbing story of a man's ideal of improving his country at whatever means necessary in some ways genius in some ways backwards thinking it's clear Putin believes in no authority higher then his own.

superb

excellent book. great voice. the first book i will re-listen to. i hope the author continues withe the topic and has a part 2.