The New Tsar
The Rise and Reign of Vladimir Putin
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Narrated by:
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René Ruiz
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By:
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Steven Lee Myers
About this listen
“A riveting, immensely detailed biography of Putin that explains in full-bodied, almost Shakespearian fashion why he acts the way he does.” –Robert D. Kaplan
The New Tsar is the book to listen to if you want to understand how Vladimir Putin sees the world and why he has become one of the gravest threats to American security.
The epic tale of the rise to power of Russia's current president—the only complete biography in English–that fully captures his emergence from shrouded obscurity and deprivation to become one of the most consequential and complicated leaders in modern history, by the former New York Times Moscow bureau chief.
In a gripping narrative of Putin’s rise to power as Russia’s president, Steven Lee Myers recounts Putin’s origins—from his childhood of abject poverty in Leningrad, to his ascension through the ranks of the KGB, and his eventual consolidation of rule. Along the way, world events familiar to readers, such as September 11th and Russia’s war in Georgia in 2008, as well as the 2014 annexation of Crimea and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, are presented from never-before-seen perspectives. This book is a grand, staggering achievement and a breathtaking look at one man’s rule. On one hand, Putin’s many reforms—from tax cuts to an expansion of property rights—have helped reshape the potential of millions of Russians whose only experience of democracy had been crime, poverty, and instability after the fall of the Soviet Union. On the other hand, Putin has ushered in a new authoritarianism, unyielding in his brutal repression of revolts and squashing of dissent. Still, he retains widespread support from the Russian public.
The New Tsar is a narrative tour de force, deeply researched, and utterly necessary for anyone fascinated by the formidable and ambitious Vladimir Putin, but also for those interested in the world and what a newly assertive Russia might mean for the future.
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Critic reviews
“Steven Lee Myers’s The New Tsar is not the first biography of Putin, but it is the strongest to date. Judicious and comprehensive, it pulls back the veil… from one of the world’s most secretive leaders. What is most striking, given the aura of steely consistency that Putin cultivates, is how he has changed over the years…. The great strength of Myers’s book is the way it shows how chance events and Putin’s own degeneration gradually cleared the path to the Ukraine crisis… Putin emerges as neither a KGB automaton, nor the embodiment of Russian historical traditions, nor an innocent victim of Western provocations and NATO’s hubris, but rather as a flawed individual who made his own choices at crucial moments and thereby shaped history.” —Daniel Treisman, The Washington Post
“What Steven Lee Myers gets so right in The New Tsar, his comprehensive new biography — the most informative and extensive so far in English — is that at bottom Putin simply feels that he’s the last one standing between order and chaos… What Myers offers is the portrait of a man swinging from crisis to crisis with one goal: projecting strength… A knowledgeable and thorough biography… Putin himself now represents the chaos he so abhors — the chaos that will surely come in his wake.” —Gal Beckerman, The New York Times Book Review
"Steven Lee Myers coherently, comprehensively, and evenhandedly tells the story not only of Putin’s glory years, but also of his hardscrabble childhood in Leningrad, his checkered academic career, his undistinguished work as a KGB agent in East Germany, his remarkably loyal service to the mayor of post-Soviet St. Petersburg, and his reluctant but speedy climb through President Yeltin’s ministries in the late 1990s."— Bob Blaisdell, The Christian Science Monitor
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- The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin
- By: Masha Gessen
- Narrated by: Masha Gessen
- Length: 10 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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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 and made his country once more a threat to its own people and to the world.
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A Preview of Authoritarianism in the USA
- By Jimmy O on 06-08-19
By: Masha Gessen
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The Death of Democracy
- Hitler's Rise to Power and the Downfall of the Weimar Republic
- By: Benjamin Carter Hett
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 11 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Why did democracy fall apart so quickly and completely in Germany in the 1930s? How did a democratic government allow Adolf Hitler to seize power? In this dramatic audiobook, Benjamin Carter Hett answers these questions, and the story he tells has disturbing resonances for our own time. Benjamin Carter Hett is one of America’s leading scholars of 20th-century Germany and a gifted storyteller whose portraits of the feckless politicians of the Weimar Republic show how fragile democracy can be when those in power do not respect it.
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I can't trust the author's account of these events
- By Example: Mark Twain on 11-10-19
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Winter Is Coming
- Why Vladimir Putin and the Enemies of the Free World Must Be Stopped
- By: Garry Kasparov
- Narrated by: George Backman
- Length: 11 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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The ascension of Vladimir Putin - a former lieutenant colonel of the KGB - to the presidency of Russia in 1999 should have been a signal that the country was headed away from democracy. Yet in the intervening years - as America and the world's other leading powers have continued to appease him - Putin has grown into not only a dictator but a global threat. With his vast resources and nuclear weapons, Putin is at the center of a worldwide assault on political liberty.
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A polemic against Putin
- By David on 05-27-16
By: Garry Kasparov
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The Last Empire
- The Final Days of the Soviet Union
- By: Serhii Plokhy
- Narrated by: Alex Wyndham
- Length: 15 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
On Christmas, 1991, President George H. W. Bush addressed the nation to declare an American victory in the Cold War: Earlier that day Mikhail Gorbachev had resigned as the first and last Soviet president. The enshrining of that narrative, one in which the end of the Cold War was linked to the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the triumph of democratic values over communism, took center stage in American public discourse immediately after Bush's speech and has persisted for decades. As Serhii Plokhy reveals, the collapse of the Soviet Union was anything but the handiwork of the US.
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Full of Holes; Horrid Narrator
- By Donald on 03-02-23
By: Serhii Plokhy
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The Restless Wave
- Good Times, Just Causes, Great Fights, and Other Appreciations
- By: John McCain, Mark Salter
- Narrated by: John McCain, Beau Bridges
- Length: 14 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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In a time when Washington, DC and the country are more polarized than they have been for decades, John McCain is the rare public figure who has earned the respect of people on both sides of the aisle. He is a model for bipartisanship and political integrity. In his 40 years in politics, McCain has never been afraid to buck trends or ruffle a few feathers. His words are more important today than ever.
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A true patriot
- By Diane Peresie on 05-29-18
By: John McCain, and others
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The Beautiful Country and the Middle Kingdom
- America and China, 1776 to the Present
- By: John Pomfret
- Narrated by: Tom Perkins
- Length: 30 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Our relationship with China remains one of the most complex and rapidly evolving and is perhaps one of the most important to our nation's future. Here, John Pomfret, the author of the best-selling Chinese Lessons, takes us deep into these two countries' shared history and illuminates in vibrant, stunning detail every major event, relationship, and ongoing development that has affected diplomacy between these two booming, influential nations.
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Indispensable for understanding the US China relationship
- By D. Keith on 03-12-17
By: John Pomfret
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The Less You Know, the Better You Sleep
- Russia's Road to Terror and Dictatorship Under Yeltsin and Putin
- By: David Satter
- Narrated by: Victor Bevine
- Length: 5 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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In this book Satter tells the story of the apartment bombings and how Boris Yeltsin presided over the criminalization of Russia, why Vladimir Putin was chosen as his sucessor, and how Putin has suppressed all opposition while retaining the appearance of a pluralist state. As the threat represented by Russia becomes increasingly clear, Satter's description of where Russia is and how it got there will be of vital interest to anyone concerned about the dangers facing the world today.
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David understands Russia better than Russians do
- By Grigory on 04-05-17
By: David Satter
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The Devil's Chessboard
- Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of America's Secret Government
- By: David Talbot
- Narrated by: Peter Altschuler
- Length: 25 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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An explosive, headline-making portrait of Allen Dulles, the man who transformed the CIA into the most powerful - and secretive - colossus in Washington, from the founder of Salon.com and author of the New York Times best seller Brothers.
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Disturbing. Makes you question the company line.
- By KTS on 02-06-16
By: David Talbot
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A Covert Action
- Reagan, the CIA, and the Cold War Struggle in Poland
- By: Seth G. Jones
- Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
- Length: 11 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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In this gripping narrative history, Seth G. Jones reveals the CIA's involvement in a landmark victory for democracy during the Cold War. In 1983, while Soviet- backed Polish prime minister Wojciech Jaruzelski worked to crush a budding opposition movement through martial law, the CIA launched a sophisticated intelligence campaign supporting dissident groups. With President Ronald Reagan's support, American funds bankrolled clandestine newspapers, broadcasting, and information warfare. This initiative, code-named QRHELPFUL, proved vital in establishing a free and democratic Poland.
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A passionate true story
- By Chris Cembrzynski on 02-15-19
By: Seth G. Jones
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Asia's Reckoning
- China, Japan, and the Fate of U.S. Power in the Pacific Century
- By: Richard Mcgregor
- Narrated by: Steve West
- Length: 16 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Richard McGregor's Asia's Reckoning is a compelling account of the widening geopolitical cracks in a region that has flourished under an American security umbrella for more than half a century. The toxic rivalry between China and Japan, two Asian giants consumed with endless history wars and ruled by entrenched political dynasties, is threatening to upend the peace underwritten by Pax Americana since World War II.
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Good info to learn, but...
- By Neal on 02-24-18
By: Richard Mcgregor
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Arik
- The Life of Ariel Sharon
- By: David Landau
- Narrated by: Waler Dixon
- Length: 19 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
From the former editor in chief of Haaretz, the first in-depth, comprehensive biography of Ariel Sharon, the most dramatic and imposing Israeli political and military leader of the last forty years. The life of Ariel Sharon spans much of modern Israel’s history. A commander in the Israeli Army from its inception in 1948, Sharon participated in the 1948 War of Independence, played decisive roles in the 1956 Suez War and the Six-Day War of 1967, and is credited here with the shift in the outcome of the Yom Kippur War of 1973.
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Larger than Life Hero
- By Eugene Choong on 10-07-24
By: David Landau
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Death of a Dissident
- The Poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko and the Return of the KGB
- By: Alex Goldfarb, Marina Litvinenko
- Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris
- Length: 5 hrs and 40 mins
- Abridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The November 2006 assassination of former Russian intelligence officer Alexander "Sasha" Litvinenko, who was poisoned by the rare radioactive element polonium, caused an international sensation. Within a few short weeks, the fit 43-year-old lay gaunt, bald, and dying in a hospital, the victim of a "tiny nuclear bomb". Suspicions swirled around Russia's FSB, the successor to the KGB, and the Putin regime.
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Very interesting and scary...
- By A. M. on 03-21-15
By: Alex Goldfarb, and others
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When the World Seemed New
- George H. W. Bush and the End of the Cold War
- By: Jeffrey A. Engel
- Narrated by: Bob Souer
- Length: 20 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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The end of the Cold War was the greatest shock to international affairs since World War II. In that perilous moment, Saddam Hussein chose to invade Kuwait, China cracked down on its own pro-democracy protesters, and regimes throughout Eastern Europe teetered between democratic change and new authoritarians. Not since FDR in 1945 had a US president faced such opportunities and challenges. As the presidential historian Jeffrey Engel reveals in this hard-to-pause history, behind closed doors, George H. W. Bush rose to the occasion brilliantly.
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The Right Man at the Right Time in the Right Job
- By A. M. on 09-12-18
By: Jeffrey A. Engel
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What listeners say about The New Tsar
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- chetyarbrough.blog
- 12-02-15
TSAR PUTIN?
Vladimir Putin is no Tsar. Steven Lee Myers has written a highly polished and informative biography but fails to convince one that Putin is a Tsar. Putin is more Richard Nixon than Catherine the Great. Putin, like Nixon, is smart and thin-skinned. Putin, like Nixon, makes personnel decisions based on loyalty, and views the world in real-politic terms.
Russia is unlikely to be ruled by a Tsar again. Its population is better educated; and aware of the value of qualified freedom. This qualified freedom insures relative social stability, and security. Russia is equally unlikely to return to U. S. S. R.’s hegemonic control of independent nations because ethnic nationalism and the desire for freedom are unquenchable thirsts. Forcing the Ukraine or Georgia to return to the Russian block or quelling Chechen resistance is, in the long run, beyond the military strength of Putin or his successors. Reassembly of a form of the U. S. S. R. is only conceivable based on political accommodation based on economic influence and independent federation.
Just as Watergate exposed the hubris of Nixon, Putin will suffer from the nature of being a flawed human being. Putin, like Nixon, is a great patriot of his country but neither exhibits or exhibited the inner moral compass that make good leaders great leaders.
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16 people found this helpful
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- Michael
- 12-06-15
A comprehensive and complete account of one of the world's most important men
The book does a good job of telling a story that is still in progress, and one in which many of the details are still shrouded in the secrecy of the recent past. It is a remarkably unbiased account, given the current political climate.
Putin is, without doubt, the most enigmatic figure on the world stage. He, by all indications, will continue to lead Russia for years to come. This book is in excellent summary of his life, and provides valuable insights into the decisions he may make in the future.
The main failing of the book is it's most tantalizing quality – there seem to be many 'holes' in Putin's past which, despite the author's best efforts, seem incomplete. As a reader, I enjoyed speculating on what more to the story there may have been.
Highly recommended.
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- Mohamed Elibiary
- 12-26-16
Very comprehensive
Absolutely the most well written and comprehensive history of the man Putin remaking global affairs.
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- Jefferson Garner Kent
- 09-09-19
A Great Biography
A great biography on one of the defining characters of our age. Detail oriented and unbiased, the biographer helps you see the world through both Putins eyes, and those of his critics. Hard to put down!
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- Poorani Selvaraj
- 08-06-18
Must read in this political environment
This book provides the necessary information to get one on speed with the mainstream media's image of Putin. The account of Putin's life after presidency could be fact checked I guess but the stories from his earlier life sometimes seem unreal. Overall, I would recommend it for curious readers. The performance was good.
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- Claus
- 04-27-21
Putin good and bad
Living in a neighbour country I liked the idea of learning a bit more about Putin was interesting. But I generally don't find politics that interesting, so I put this on mostly to have something to fall a sleep to. But I kept listening to this book until the end. Never going book to my good fiction book. It starts with his parents in ww2. And I learned a lot about Putin.
Curiously though the author seems to know more about Putin the KGB agent than Putin the president. Not that this book explores at length that time as well. But you do notice the sources are further away from Putin and that there is more speculation.
A very interesting book that presents both the good and the bad.
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- Felix
- 07-05-17
Great book, except the narrator
The book is an excellent read. I needed to listen at 1.5 speed, because the narrator spoke so slowly. At that speed, it is excellent.
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- Crisis Actor
- 05-19-16
Outstanding
Absolutely required reading (or listening) for anyone wishing to better understand the history, trajectory, and power dynamics of the new Russia. Insightful, remarkable in its level of detail, and effective in creating as objective and complete a view of Putin as possible. This is a truly great book.
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- awesome game
- 02-21-17
Vladimir Putin is Russia's ultimate power
very well researched book with an impressive and disturbing story of a man's ideal of improving his country at whatever means necessary in some ways genius in some ways backwards thinking it's clear Putin believes in no authority higher then his own.
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- Alex
- 03-28-16
superb
excellent book. great voice. the first book i will re-listen to. i hope the author continues withe the topic and has a part 2.
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1 person found this helpful