The Putin Mystique

November 3, 2014
In a lucid study of power, journalist Arutunyan exposes the cult of personality that surrounds Vladimir Putin as part of a larger Russian mythology. She shows how Russians view Putin in near-mystical terms, as a feudal monarch greater than any one institution of government. Mixing personal stories with history and on-the-ground reports, Arutunyan deftly explains how Putin and his cronies take advantage of the “repressive apparatus” underlying the corrupt system created in the wake of the Soviet Union’s breakup. Each of the book’s four sections—“The Subjects,” “The Oprichniki,” “The Boyars,” and “The Sovereign—describe the subtleties of current political and economic reality in the lives of specific people. In one chapter we meet police officer Alexei Dymovsky, who took to the Internet to complain directly to Putin about corruption in his department in a video that went viral. Dymovsky, who was subsequently jailed as a dissident and later became a celebrity activist, provides another example of how Russia and its citizens are still stuck in a “patrimonial state.” Arutunyan goes on to cover recent events, including the Pussy Riot trial and Russia’s annexation of Crimea, that continue to keep Putin at the center of the world stage. This far-ranging book stands as a solid contribution toward understanding Putin’s power and the people who follow him. Agent: Julia Goumen and Natasha Banke, Banke, Goumen & Smirnova Literary Agency.