Book review: Fragile empire: how Russia fell in and out of love with Vladimir Putin

"Fragile Empire: How Russia Fell In and Out of Love With Vladimir Putin." Ben Judah. Yale University Press. April 2013. --- In this well-received new analysis, Ben Judah argues that Putin is not the strongman he appears. Russia’s leader may be victorious as a politician, but he has utterly failed to build a modern state. Once loved for its forcefulness and the spreading of new consumer lifestyles, Putin’s regime is now increasingly loathed for incompetence and corruption. Joel Krupa finds this a fantastically engaging book, with many enlightening and provocative tales of a Russia we may not recognise.