Putin's labyrinth

by Steve LeVine

The new Russia is marching in an alarming direction. Emboldened by escalating oil wealth and newfound prominence as a world power, Russia, under the leadership of Vladimir Putin, has veered back toward the authoritarian roots planted in Imperial/Czarist times and firmly established during the Soviet era. Though Russia has a new president, Dmitri Medvedev, Putin remains in control, rendering the democratic reforms of the post-Soviet order irrelevant. Now, in Putin's Labyrinth, acclaimed journalist Steve LeVine, who lived inand reported from the former Soviet Union for more than a decade, provides a penetrating account of modern Russia under the repressive rule of an all-powerful autocrat. LeVine portrays the growth of a "culture of death"--from targeted assassinations of the state's enemies to the Kremlin's indifference when innocent hostages are slaughtered.Drawing on new interviews with eyewitnessesand the families of victims, LeVine documents the bloodshed that has stained Putin's tw