“But outsiders have systematically (and in some cases wilfully) misread events since 1999, when the chaotic but pluralist era of Boris Yeltsin gave way to the corrupt and authoritarian rule of the ex-KGB hard men – the Siloviki. Telling the real story of these men’s doings is hard and even dangerous. For Russia’s self-censoring mainstream media, no-go areas include Mr Putin’s private wealth, his sexual preferences, and the mysterious ‘terrorist’ bombings of autumn 1999 that stoked public anxiety..., making the unknown stopgap prime minister a shoo-in for the presidency. It is often forgotten that Mr Putin arrived on the national stage as a political cipher: a quiet, grey, timid-looking man, blinking nervously in the unaccustomed limelight. He was the fifth prime minister in the space of twelve months: many at the time thought, wrongly, that his stint in office would be equally brief (as we will see later in the book, the outward appearance of mediocrity can be dangerously deceptive).MoreLessRead More Read Less
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