Book Reviews › Character › The Man Without a Face
Honest review · Character
The Man Without a Face
by Masha Gessen
Putin's rise: the KGB, St. Petersburg, the apartment bombings, the consolidation. Gessen's 2012 portrait, prescient and unsparing.
Read it if…
you want how Putin took power.
See the book →
Skip it if…
you want the latest decade; pair with newer books.
Try instead: Strongmen →
Three things you will actually use
- Power consolidates fast.
- Watch the first year.
- Faces can be masks.
Do this first
Read the chapters on 1999.
Our verdict
Gessen's Putin.
See the book →
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