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Vladimir Putin has been Russia's dominant political figure for more than a decade, but he is a man of many identities. Russian experts Hill and Gaddy answer the question, "Who is Mr. Putin?" Drawing on many sources, including their own personal encounters with him, they argue that there are, in fact, several "real Putins."

This is the chilling account of how a low-level, small-minded KGB operative ascended to the Russian presidency and, in an astonishingly short time, destroyed years of progress and made his country once more a threat to her own people and to the world. Handpicked by the "family" surrounding an ailing and increasingly unpopular Boris Yeltsin, Vladimir Putin seemed like a perfect choice for the oligarchy to shape according to its own designs. Suddenly...