Navalny's Disappearance and Putin's Power Play: Inside Russia's Controversial Elections (Politics) - Opposition leader's alleged poisoning and imprisonment casts shadow over Russian democracy as President Putin seeks re-election. #Putin

One Year of Trump's Praise for Authoritarians: As Donald Trump gears up for another run for president, a new report details his one-year history of praising authoritarians around the world. The report, from The New York Times, found that Trump has made positive comments about leaders such as Vladimir Putin of Russia, Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines, and Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil. #Trump #US

#PDF_Download Frontline Ukraine: Crisis in the Borderlands by Richard Sakwa

The unfolding crisis in Ukraine has brought the world to the brink of a new Cold War. As Russia and Ukraine tussle for Crimea and the eastern regions, relations between Putin and the West have reached an all-time low. How did we get here? Richard Sakwa here unpicks the story of Russo-Ukrainian relations and traces the path to the recent disturbances through the events which have forced Ukraine, a country internally divided between East and West, to choose between closer union with Europe or its historic ties with Russia. As the first full account of the Ukraine crisis from the Euromaidan Protests to the catastrophe of MH17 and up to the October 2014 parliamentary elections, Frontline Ukraine explains the origins, developments and global significance of the internal and external battle for Ukraine. With all eyes focused on the region, Sakwa unravels the myths and misunderstandings of the situation, providing

#PDF_Download Putin's War Against Ukraine: Revolution, Nationalism, and Crime by Taras Kuzio

The West has woken up to the uncomfortable fact that Russia has long believed it is at war with them, the most egregious example of which is Vladimir Putin's hacking of the US elections. For Western governments, used to believing in the post-Cold War peace dividend, it came as a shock to find the liberal international order is under threat from an aggressive Russia. The 'End of History - loudly proclaimed in 1991 - has been replaced by the 'Return of History.' Putin's War Against Ukraine came three years earlier when he launched an unprovoked war in the Donbas and annexed the Crimea. Putin's war against Ukraine has killed over 30, 000 civilians, Ukrainian and Russian soldiers and Russian proxies, forced a third of the population of the Donbas to flee, illegally nationalised Ukrainian state and private entities in the Crimea and the Donbas, destroyed huge areas of the infrastructure and econo

#PDF_Download Russia by Dmitri Trenin

Over the past century alone, Russia has lived through great achievements and deepest misery; mass heroism and mass crime; over-blown ambition and near-hopeless despair – always emerging with its sovereignty and its fiercely independent spirit intact. In this book, leading Russia scholar Dmitri Trenin accompanies readers on Russia’s rollercoaster journey from revolution to post-war devastation, perestroika to Putin’s stabilization of post-Communist Russia. Explaining the causes and the meaning of the numerous twists and turns in contemporary Russian history, he offers a vivid insider’s view of a country through one of its most trying and often tragic periods. Today, he cautions, Russia stands at a turning point – politically, economically and socially – its situation strikingly reminiscent of the Russian Empire in its final years. For the Russian Federation to avoid a similar demise, it must learn the lessons of its own history.

#PDF_Download The Invention of Russia: The Journey from Gorbachev's Freedom to Putin's War by Arkady Ostrovsky

By tracing the history of modern Russia from Mikhail Gorbachev to the rise of ex KGB agent Vladimir Putin, Arkady Ostrovsky reveals how the Soviet Union came to its end and how Russia has since reinvented itself.

#PDF_Download Russia and the Russians: From Earliest Times to the Present by Geoffrey Hosking

Geoffrey Hosking is one of the foremost historians of Russia and its people. The result of a lifetime's knowledge, this monumental and authoritative work has been acclaimed as the definitive single-volume history of Russia, tracing its story from the settlement of Kiev through to the present day. This second edition is updated throughout, with a new chapter on the recent role of Putin and Medvedev, and their impact on Russia's economy, politics and its citizens.

#PDF_Download Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography by Walter Isaacson

Walter Isaacson's "enthralling" (The New Yorker) worldwide bestselling biography of Apple cofounder Steve Jobs. Based on more than forty interviews with Steve Jobs conducted over two years--as well as interviews with more than 100 family members, friends, adversaries, competitors, and colleagues--Walter Isaacson has written a riveting story of the roller-coaster life and searingly intense personality of a creative entrepreneur whose passion for perfection and ferocious drive revolutionized six industries: personal computers, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, and digital publishing. Isaacson's portrait touched millions of readers. At a time when America is seeking ways to sustain its innovative edge, Jobs stands as the ultimate icon of inventiveness and applied imagination. He knew that the best way to create value in the twenty-first century was to connect creativity with technology. He built a comp

#PDF_Download The Romanovs #3 Nicholas and Alexandra: The Classic Account of the Fall of the Romanov Dynasty by Robert K. Massie

In this commanding book, Pulitzer Prize–winning author Robert K. Massie sweeps readers back to the extraordinary world of Imperial Russia to tell the story of the Romanovs’ lives: Nicholas’s political naïveté, Alexandra’s obsession with the corrupt mystic Rasputin, and little Alexis’s brave struggle with hemophilia. Against a lavish backdrop of luxury and intrigue, Massie unfolds a powerful drama of passion and history—the story of a doomed empire and the death-marked royals who watched it crumble.

#PDF_Download Dark Towers: Deutsche Bank, Donald Trump, and an Epic Trail of Destruction by David Enrich

#1 WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER * NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER New York Times finance editor David Enrich's explosive exposé of the most scandalous bank in the world, revealing its shadowy ties to Donald Trump, Putin's Russia, and Nazi Germany “A jaw-dropping financial thriller” — Philadelphia Inquirer

Double blow for Putin as navy attacked and #Ukraine forces 'punch through front line'. The Independent reports that the Russian Black Sea Fleet HQ was attacked on Friday, killing and wounding dozens. #News

#Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to #Russia is a significant event. It will be the first time that Xi has left China since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and it will be the first time that he has met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in person since the start of the war in Ukraine.

The visit is expected to signal a closer relationship between China and Russia. The two countries have already been working more closely together in recent years, and Xi's visit is likely to further strengthen this relationship.

The visit is also likely to be a concern for the United States and its allies. The US and its allies have been trying to isolate Russia since the start of the war in Ukraine, and China's support for Russia could undermine their efforts. #News

#PDF_Download Putin’s People: How the KGB Took Back Russia and then Took on the West by Catherine Belton

A chilling and revelatory expose of the KGB’s renaissance, Putin’s rise to power, and how Russian black cash is subverting the world.

#PDF_Download Putin's People by Catherine Belton

Interference in American elections. The sponsorship of extremist politics in Europe. War in Ukraine. In recent years, Vladimir Putin’s Russia has waged a concerted campaign to expand its influence and undermine Western institutions. But how and why did all this come about, and who has orchestrated it?