The Man without a Face is the chilling account of how a low-level, small-minded KGB operative ascended to the Russian presidency and, in an astonishingly short time, destroyed years of progress, making his country once more a threat to her own people and to the world.
Handpicked as a successor by the family surrounding an ailing and increasingly unpopular Boris Yeltsin, Vladimir Putin seemed like the perfect choice for the oligarchy to shape according to its own designs. Suddenly the boy who had stood in the shadows, dreaming of ruling the world, was a public figure, and his popularity soared. Russia and an infatuated West were determined to see the progressive leader of their dreams, even as he seized control of the media, sent political rivals and critics into exile or to the grave, and smashed the country's fragile electoral system, concentrating power in the hands of his cronies.
As a journalist living in Moscow, Masha Gessen experienced this history firsthand, and for The Man without a Face she has drawn on information and sources no other writer has tapped. Her account of how a faceless man maneuvered his way into absolute-and absolutely corrupt-power has the makings of a classic of narrative nonfiction.
About the Author :
Masha Gessen is a Russian American journalist who is the author of several books, including the national bestseller The Man without a Face. Her work has appeared in Vanity Fair, the New York Times, Newsweek, Slate, and many other publications, and has received numerous awards, most recently the 2013 Media for Liberty Award. She has served as the editor of several publications and as director of Radio Liberty's Russia Service. She lives in Moscow.
Justine Eyre is a classically trained actress who has narrated dozens of audiobooks and has a prestigious Audie Award and two AudioFile Earphones Awards under her belt. Eyre is multilingual and known for her great facility with accents. She has appeared on stage, with leading roles in King Lear and The Crucible, and has had starring roles in four films on the indie circuit. Her recent television credits include Two and a Half Men and Mad Men.
Review :
In a country where journalists critical of the government have a way of meeting untimely deaths, Ms. Gessen has shown remarkable courage in researching and writing this unflinching indictment of the most powerful man in Russia.
-- "Wall Street Journal "
Part psychological profile, part conspiracy study...Gessen's armchair psychoanalysis of Putin is speculative. But it is a clever and sometimes convincing speculation, based on a close reading of Putin's own inadvertently revealing accounts of his life, and on interviews with people who knew Putin before he mattered.
-- "New York Times Book Review "
A perceptive account of the new czar.
-- "Newsweek/Daily Beast"
"Gessen is a talented and versatile journalist."
-- "Financial Times (London)"
[A] luminous study of Russia's forever leader...demolishing the numerous myths and legends that have accumulated around her subject.
-- "Guardian (London)"
"Engrossing and insightful."
-- "Bloomberg BusinessWeek"
"Gessen conveys the atmosphere--whether of the last months of the Soviet Union, the chaotic years of Yeltsin, the strange transfer of the presidency to Putin, or the disappointments of his period--more accurately than any recent chronicler of the period."
-- "Independent (London)"
An electrifying read.
-- "Columbia Journalism Review"
[Gessen's] engaging prose combines a native's passion with a mordant wit and caustic understatement that are characteristically Russian.
-- "Daily Telegraph"
[A] courageous, enlightening account of Putin's rise to power...Brave voices like Gessen's...have helped shed some much needed light on Putin's 'criminal tyranny.'
-- "Independent on Sunday (London)"
Despite news reports, Putin doesn't have quite the notoriety in the West he deserves; Gessen should push him to the forefront.
-- "Library Journal"
"A chilling and brave work of nonfiction...Gessen has succeeded in convincingly portraying the forces that made Putin who he is today"
-- "BookPage "
