Putin and the return of history How the Kremlin rekindled the Cold War

Centered on the recent invasion of Ukraine, this volume provides an approachable, compelling addition to the growing conversation on Vladimir Putin in modern Russia, as well as the threat of a new Cold War era. The authors present a detailed argument that Putin's political path and growing power can be traced back across Russian history by looking at the successes and strategies of previous leaders. They point to revolving cycles of heavy-handed rule focused on imperialist expansion in the name of promoting and protecting Russian culture and eschewing outside influences, particularly Western ones with short, intermittent periods of freedom, democracy, and rekindled collaboration with Europe and the US. There is also significant discussion of Putin's ongoing and selectively crafted use of historical memories (such as WW II and the "failures" of Gorbachev's Perestroika era) to influence present nationalistic action and autocratic responses to defend Russia's ongoing war with Ukraine. Meticulous footnotes citing a range of Russian and Western sources provide interested readers with a wealth of other research avenues to pursue. Summing Up: Recommended. General readers and undergraduates. --Amy Stalker, Georgia State University

An eloquent report probes the complicated, competing narratives of Ukraine--Russia history. Martin Sixsmith is a former BBC Moscow correspondent and author of An Unquiet Heart, and his son, Daniel, is a historian and author of The War of Nerves. Despite the optimism in the West for the emergence of liberal democracy in Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the rise of Putin over the last two decades has assured the resurgence of the militarized autocratic model first installed during the time of the Mongols in the 14th century. As a correspondent in Moscow in 1991, Martin joined the triumphal voices at Russia's disintegration and reported--wrongly, he admits--that "Russia would re-enter the community of nations after seven decades of self-imposed exile and become a responsible member of the international order." Instead, Putin has only grown more resentful about what the former Soviet Union has lost. Most recently, Putin has reembraced the "Great Russian nationalism" favored by Catherine the Great, and he stresses the concept of Russian vulnerability to Western aggression and the need to protect the allegedly persecuted Russian minorities in places such as the Donbas--hence the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. As the authors note, Hitler used a similar casus belli to invade the Sudetenland in 1938. "Like Stalin before him," the authors write, "Putin has appointed himself the supreme arbiter of the meaning of history. He declares his strict adherence to historical facts, but they are the 'facts' according to the ever-growing number…of Government Organized Non-Governmental Organizations that he himself has created." As the authors capably demonstrate in this stimulating text, Putin's massive folly in invading Ukraine--and expecting a warm welcome--has opened a perilous new chapter in the Russian historical narrative. A tremendous study of how Putin has tragically manipulated national myths for personal gain and revanchist patriotism. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.