3 Books You Have to Read to Understand Putin’s Russia

I have read a few books on Russia, eastern, and central-eastern Europe because of my research interests. I am doing my Master’s at McGill University in Montreal this coming Fall and will focus on the emergence of populism in formerly Warsaw Pact countries.

So, I can recommend a few books to you on understanding Putin’s Russia. I think reading and understanding is more important than ever, especially as authoritarianism is on the rise across the Globe.

Let me know your top three recommendations in the comments below!

Photo by Tamas Pap on Unsplash

If you want to check out my latest reads, I encourage you to check out my Goodreads account where I occasionally review books. I have the majority of the books I have read since 2014 listed there if you want to have a look at what shaped the reasoning in my books and blogs.

1. The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine, by Serhii Plokhy

I start this list with The Gates of Europe because it is fresh in my mind. I have now read it twice over the past year and find it incredibly relevant to what Putin unleashed on Ukraine.

Plokhy is one of the most known Ukrainian historians and he does a great job at retelling its history from the Kyivan Rus to the Orange Revolution in 2004 and…