Books like The New Tsar by Steven Lee Myers

A former senator argues for a politics of faith, inclusiveness, and justice, examining money, media, economic insecurity, racial tensions, and global threats while urging a return to constitutional principles to heal America.

James Comey, former FBI director, offers a candid look at twenty years of public service, examining how ethical leadership shapes decisions in government and the justice system.

Masha Gessen’s investigative account charts Vladimir Putin’s rapid rise from KGB operative to Russian president and the erosion of democratic institutions under his rule.

"First Person is the intimate, candid self-portrait of the man who holds the future of Russia in his grip. A compilation of over 24 hours of in-depth interviews and remarkable photographs, it delves deep into Putin's KGB past and explores his meteoric rise to power. No Russian leader has ever subjected himself to this kind of public examination of his life and views. Both as a spy and as a virtual political unknown until selected by Boris Yeltsin to be Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin has been regarded as man of mystery. Now, the curtain lifts to reveal a remarkable life of struggles and successes. Putin's life story is of major importance to the world."--BOOK JACKET.

Journalist Masha Gessen follows the lives of four people born at what promised to be the dawn of democracy. Each of them came of age with unprecedented expectations, some as the children and grandchildren of the very architects of the new Russia, each with newfound aspirations of their own as entrepreneurs, activists, thinkers, and writers, sexual and social beings. Gessen charts their paths against the machinations of the regime that would crush them all, and against the war it waged on understanding itself, which ensured the unobstructed reemergence of the old Soviet order in the form of today's terrifying and seemingly unstoppable mafia state.

Beck Dorey‑Stein recounts her unlikely journey from a Craigslist job to stenographer for President Obama, detailing life in the Oval Office, close relationships with staff, and her personal growth.

"In this original, bottom-up account of the evolution of contemporary Russia, Alena Ledeneva seeks to reveal and decode how informal power operates. Concentrating on Vladimir Putin's system of governance - referred to as sistema - she identifies four key types of networks: his inner circle, useful friends, core contacts and more diffuse ties and connections. These networks serve sistema but also serve themselves. Reliance on networks enables leaders to mobilise and to control, yet they also lock politicians, bureaucrats and businesses into informal deals, mediated interests and personalised loyalty. This is the 'modernisation trap of informality': one cannot use the potential of informal networks without triggering their negative long-term consequences for institutional development. Ledeneva's perspective on informal power is based on in-depth interviews with sistema insiders and enhanced by evidence of its workings brought to light in court cases, enabling her to draw broad conclusions about the prospects for Russia's political institutions"--

"Drawing on both Russian and English-language sources, and providing comprehensive coverage of Putin's speeches, interviews and policy documents, this is the definitive study of the Russian leader."--Jacket.

A detailed journey across Russia and former Soviet republics, in which journalist Ben Judah interviews Putin’s allies, adversaries, officials, business magnates, mob figures, and everyday citizens to examine Vladimir Putin’s rise and its impact on Russian society.

"The stunning story of Russia's slide back into a dictatorship--and how the West is now paying the price for allowing it to happen, "--Amazon.com.