Who is Vladimir Putin?

Short, a former journalist with the BBC, The Economist, and The Times of London, adds to the library of insightful books about the Russian autocrat

Putin: His Life and Times

Author: Philip Short

Publisher: Henry Holt

Price: $40

Pages: 864

In the days after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Moscow suddenly felt different. My wife and I were overwhelmed by expressions of sympathy and solidarity. Russians we had never met faxed condolence letters. A teary-eyed stranger stopped me on the street brandishing a picture of herself at the World Trade Centre from a trip years earlier. The outside of the American Embassy was carpeted with flowers, icons, crosses, candles and a note that said, “We were together at the Elbe, we will be together again.”

A young master of