Mr. Sweeney doesn’t spell this out quite as clearly as would have been desirable, but his account of many of the key events in Russia since 1991 is invaluable, enabling readers to see the wood as well as many of the trees.The story-line is, of course, selective, and he doesn’t explicitly say that the coup and counter-coup in Moscow in August 1991 were planned mainly by different factions in the KGB.Indeed, this interpretation may in due course be questioned or even refuted as at best an oversimplification. Sweeney may be correct in suggesting that Putin has been an expert conman and that his victims included former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, UK prime minister Tony Blair and the billionaire oligarch Boris Berezovsky. Despite his extremely unsavoury reputation, Berezovsky was given asylum in London, having become one of Putin’s enemies. The phrase “my enemy’s enemy is my friend” comes to mind. Sweeney, a much travelled, prolific and award winning journalist, lays out, in entertaining and informative detail, just what’s going on in the Kremlin, and it isn’t pretty.

Heavily engaging and informative, sweeneys personal recount of the tsar of is gripping. Following Putins rise to power as a low ranking KGB officer to Yeltsins successor,History teaches us so many things, if only people would listen. We’re currently going through the last days of an insecure dictator, whose birth and upbringing are shrouded in mystery but certainly tainted his view of the world.

In the midst of one of the darkest acts of aggression in modern history - Russia's invasion of Ukraine - this book shines a light on Putin's rule and poses urgent questions about how the world must respond. Her lover was so unrecognisable that Alyona could not find him in the morgue until the supervisor pointed out his name tag to her. This was in 2003. The poisonings and the shootings had only just begun. Investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya? Poisoned, later shot. Human rights activist Natasha Estemirova? Shot. Politician Boris Nemtsov? Shot. Opposition leader Alexey Navalny? Poisoned, now in jail. Yes, there was brutality in the later stages of the war but it took the form of massive artillery shelling and aerial bombardments. John Sweeney has a long career in investigative journalism and as such his experience of and interest in Russia and Putin helps to create a very readable and useful book. In Killer in the Kremlin, the story of Ukraine is bookended at the start and finish, using Sweeney's own experiences in Kyiv and elsewhere, with the wider story of Vlad the murder's executions and assassinations. Sweeney intercuts Putins story with his own experience of the leader of Russia and more importantly the people Putin has affected. Dissidents, residents and citizens of Russia have felt his wrath and sweepy injects these story with the humanity that they should be afforded, recognising their bravery in the face of such a monstrous power.The pure evil of Putin’s reign is laid out here in knowledgeable detail. Somehow, throughout history, it’s all happened before. Only the methods available have changed. There’s also the matter of the hangers on, these days referred to as oligarchs, who are totally dependent on the corruption and brutality of the current regime. They’re not much better.