Putin's Russia: Rise of a Dictator by Darryl Cunningham

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'Darryl Cunningham may be becoming the UK’s equivalent to the great Larry Gonick, and our vibrant comics scene is all the richer for his work. Hugely recommended reading.'—Joe Gordon, Down the Tubes


Master manipulator or gangster? The malign thrust of Putin’s domestic and foreign policy is exposed in Cunningham’s latest page-turning biography including his early life, political career, the wars in Chechnya, Crimea and the Ukraine, the crackdown on human rights, Brexit, Trump—and the poisonings.

Author of more than six acclaimed graphic novels and well-known for his economical drawing and clear, explanatory narrative, Cunningham shows how the West and its leaders have been culpable in aiding Putin’s rise—Obama being a particular example.

Areas covered include Brexit and Trump; the crackdown on human rights, especially on homosexuality in Russia; and the poisonings—among them, journalist Anna Politkovskaya in Russia, Alexander Litvinenko in London, Sergei Skripal in Salisbury.

By putting all these events into a timeline, Cunningham aims to show that Putin is opportunistic rather than the master manipulator people make him out to be: ‘He’s essentially a gangster and not a particularly smart one. We need to demythologise Putin if we are to beat him.’