"The first comprehensive, fully up-to-date biography of Vladimir Putin, woven into the tumultuous saga of Russia over the last sixty years. Vladimir Putin is wreaking havoc in Europe, threatening global peace and stability and exposing his fellow citizens to devastating economic countermeasures. Yet puzzlingly many Russians continue to support him. This book is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the many facets of the man behind the mask that Putin wears on the world stage. Drawing on almost two hundred interviews conducted over eight years in Russia, the United States, and Europe and on source material in more than a dozen languages, Putin will be the last word for years to come"-- Provided by publisher

Originally published by The Bodley Head (Penguin Random House UK) in 2022.

Prologue -- Baskov Lane -- Legal niceties -- The big house -- Quiet days in Saxony -- Back in the USSR- The grey cardinal -- The view from the Neva -- Moscow rules -- The cap of Monomakh -- Power vertical -- A bonfire of illusions -- The Russian idea -- Body politic -- Tandemocracy -- The straightjacket tightens -- Payback -- Nemtsov, wild boar sausages and the end of liberalism -- The endgame -- Afterword.