Fascinating

A real fascinating look at a westerners view of Russia, especially the elites and wannabes. The last three chapters in particular help orientate the reader to the international moves Putin makes and why and how.

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Hard to believe but true portrayal of today Russia

This is incredibly detailed portrait of modern Russia which is hard to comprehend by Western people. Must read for everyone who care about the future of the world. As it will be shaken badly by the fall of the giant bear.

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2 people found this helpful

quite compelling and pretty bleak!

The reading was good and the book definitely offered an insight into something that you wouldn't want to get too close to.

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Clash of cultures within one civilisation

A fascinating look into how Russia has essentially used contemporary and western culture to reconstruct the same Soviet system. It's not so much an evolution but adaptation to bolster their former glory.

Peter Pomerantsev is a veteran reporter for Russia, and his tongue and cheek yet informative look into the country is engaging, concerning and at times just plain insane.

The book itself meanders through a variety of topics, mostly based on the writer's experiences of working on various television programmes for state sponsored networks, therefore doesn't strictly stick to the nitty gritty political system. It dabbles in the entertainment world as well as various corruption scandals making it not as heavy listen as expected. Worth the listen.

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4 people found this helpful

Captivating book

Captivating book, but narrator mispronounces Russian names and words, and gets stresses wrong. You'd think he would've researched them beforehand.

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2 people found this helpful

Great Book

The book is well narrated. Russia appears to be an appalling place to live and you cannot help but feel sorry for the ordinary people who live there. I recommend it to everybody.

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Narrator pronounced almost every Russian name and word wrong

It is really incredibly stupid of Audible to not hire a narrator who has at least studied Russian, or at the very least someone who is willing to ask Russians how to pronounce Russian words and names, when the text bristles with thousands of Russian people and places and phrases. His ghastly mangling of almost every single Russian word and phrase, even place names, common first names, and the surnames of quite famous people like Bulgakov made it excruciating to listen to. Why didn’t Audible get Pomerantsev himself to narrate it. It would have made far more sense. At times the narrator stressed the wrong word in a sentence and made nonsense of it, at least twice the text repeated where he had done a re-take and the first had not been edited out. Shoddy and very disappointing. A potentially fascinating listen totally let down by the wrong narrator for the task. He pronounced the German plural Krankenhäuser correctly, but by that stage it just felt like it added insult to injury. Do the editors imagine that someone who can pronounce German will just somehow manage Russian too??

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7 people found this helpful

A chilling and beautifully written account of modern dystopian Russia

Peter Pomerantsev outlines a perspective on Russia that was right on the creating wave that slammed into the public imagination with the annexation of Crimea and war in Ukraine. He gives an account of the characters which make up the Putin era - desperate models and gangsters-turned-billionaires, dead human rights activists and a London and European elite that has sold its soul to the new Russian money. This is a wake up call that everyone needs to read, but as the story suggests many of those who can make a difference have chosen Russian-financed wilful ignorance.

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3 people found this helpful

Great book, terrible performance

Whoever approved doing voices while reading a non-fiction book should never produce an audiobook again. I cringed every time the narrator spoke in high pitched voice pretending to be a young Russian girl or did his impression of a Russian gangster. Why bother changing your voice when quoting Larry King, when it sounds NOTHING like Larry King? This was a very unnecessary exercise, which made listening to this amazing book really, really hard.

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1 person found this helpful

Interesting and educational!

Any additional comments?

This is an enjoyable read/listen. Well written and compelling. It provides and interesting and compelling account of sociopolitical issues in modern Russia.

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3 people found this helpful