--- title: Russia and Vladimir Putin: 9 Books to Read Right Now description: From a Putin biography to an exploration of TV propaganda, these books can help you understand what's going on in Russia canonical: https://time.com/4672142/russia-books/ author: Sarah Begley article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-02-15T22:29:21.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:59:04.260Z article:section: Ideas og:title: 9 Books That Can Help You Understand Russia Right Now og:description: According to experts og:url: https://time.com/4672142/russia-books/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 9 Books That Can Help You Understand Russia Right Now twitter:description: According to experts twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # 9 Books That Can Help You Understand Russia Right Now by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Feb 15, 2017 10:29 PM CUT by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Feb 15, 2017 10:29 PM CUT As an influx of news comes out about [Russia](http://time.com/4671931/donald-trump-russia-don-mcgahn-democrats/ "undefined")‘s potential influence on the U.S., many Americans may be curious to learn more about the country’s recent history. What has motivated [Russia](http://time.com/4671551/trump-russia-investigation-flynn-2016-election/ "undefined") since the collapse of the Soviet Union, and what defines its president, [Vladimir Putin](http://time.com/4660560/donald-trump-vladimir-putin-innocent-bill-oreilly/ "undefined")? In times of rapid breaking news and quickly shifting political positions, it can be helpful to take a step back and read something substantive for context. TIME asked experts from the Atlantic Council, the Wilson Center and other institutions to recommend books on Russia that would be accessible and illuminating for the general interest reader. Here are the volumes they suggested, covering everything from Kremlinology to the country’s cyber landscape. ### _Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible: The Surreal Heart of the New Russia_ (2014)  PublicAffairs By Peter Pomerantsev Both Alina Polyakova, deputy director of the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center, and Michael McFaul, director of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford, recommend this cross-section of Russian society. “The book stands out because it manages to be entertaining and very accessible to a general reader while capturing a key moment of Putin’s Russia: the emergence and consolidation of the tools of state-sponsored propaganda,” says Polyakova. [_Get it now_](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00L4FSVZ6/?tag=timecom-20 "undefined") ### _All the Kremlin’s Men: Inside the Court of Vladimir Putin_ (2016)  PublicAffairs By Mikhail Zygar McFaul and Anders Åslund, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, both recommend this book, with Åslund calling it an “excellent recent presentation of the people around Putin and how Russian policy is made,” though he notes “it downplays Putin’s importance too much.” [_Get it now_](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1610397398/?tag=timecom-20 "undefined") ### _The New Tsar: The Rise and Reign of Vladimir Putin_ (2015)  Vintage By Steven Lee Myers Åslund, McFaul, and Sestanovich all recommend this account of the president’s ascent from a childhood of poverty, through his work for the KGB, to his powerful role at the center of the Kremlin. Åslund calls it “the best political biography of Putin.” [_Get it now_](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0345802799/?tag=timecom-20 "undefined") ### _Fragile Empire: How Russia Fell In and Out of Love with Vladimir Putin_ (2013)  Yale University Press By Ben Judah John Herbst, director of the Atlantic Council’s Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center, recommends this different look at Putin’s regime, calling it “a good overall look at Russia” that is “easy to read and impressionistic.” [_Get it now_](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0300205228/?tag=timecom-20 "undefined") ### _Black Wind, White Snow: The Rise of Russia’s New Nationalism_ (2016)  Yale University Press By Charles Clover Åslund recommends this historical exploration of “Eurasianism,” a theory of Russian nationalism based on geography and ethnicity. Clover traces its roots from the White Russian exiles of the 1920s through today, including interviews with close advisers to Putin. [_Get it now_](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DGSP2N2/?tag=timecom-20 "undefined") ### _Wheel of Fortune: The Battle for Oil and Power in Russia_ (2012)  Belknap Press By Thane Gustafson Åslund calls this volume “outstanding on Russian oil.” The book explores the massive market for Russian oil, as well as the country’s economic and political dependence on the industry. [_Get it now_](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0674066472/?tag=timecom-20 "undefined") ### _The Red Web: The Struggle Between Russia’s Digital Dictators and the New Online Revolutionaries_ (2015)  PublicAffairs By Andrei Soldatov and Irina Borogan Åslund calls this book “excellent on Russian cyber.” Through analysis of everything from hacking to digital surveillance, Soldatov and Borogan explain the potential for the Internet to either solidify or undermine totalitarianism in Russia. [_Get it now_](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1610395735/?tag=timecom-20 "undefined") ### _Beyond Crimea: The New Russian Empire_ (2016)  Yale University Press By Agnia Grigas Herbst suggests this book for its “insight into the Kremlin’s effort to regain control in the post-Soviet space.” [_Get it now_](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0300214502/?tag=timecom-20 "undefined") ### _Peter the Great: His Life and World_ (1980)  Random House By Robert K. Massie “I think in many ways reading some really foundational but still accessible and entertaining works of history and literature will teach Americans much more about Russia that’s relevant to today, than if they simply read the latest trade or scholarly book on Russian foreign policy or Putin,” says Matthew Rojansky, director of the Kennan Institute at the Woodrow Wilson Center. Case in point: this Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of “Russia’s most extraordinary autocrat, a man whose imprint is still felt on people, places and politics from the Far East to the heart of Europe, even three centuries after his death.” [_Get it now_](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0345298063/?tag=timecom-20 "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4672142/russia-books/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4672142/russia-books/"},"headline":"9 Books That Can Help You Understand Russia Right Now","datePublished":"2017-02-15T22:29:21.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:59:04.260Z","description":"According to experts","url":"https://time.com/4672142/russia-books/","keywords":["Books","russia","onetime","timeshop"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sarah Begley","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/books/","name":"Books"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4672142/russia-books/","name":"9 Books That Can Help You Understand Russia Right Now"}}]}] ```