By Steven Carroll
All the Kremlin's Men: Inside the Court of Vladimir Putin
Mikhail Zygar
Public Affairs, $39.99
The idea that Vladimir Putin is a new Tsar who came to power knowing exactly what he wanted and ruthlessly set about doing it is, according to Mikhail Zygar, a myth. This is a fascinating, in-depth and authoritative study of Russian politics. Based on interviews with leading powerbrokers, it takes the reader behind the facade of the Kremlin. In the last days of Yeltsin, the movers and shakers sought out a successor and settled on Putin, who was reluctant until he saw the mansion he was promised. And the lifestyle. When the second-term election came round he still had to be persuaded to stay and emerges as a sort of manufactured president, a canvas on which the powerbrokers and the people created their man: a portrait still being painted.