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Orders to kill : the Putin regime and political murder / Amy Knight.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York, N.Y. : Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Press, 2017Copyright date: ©2017Edition: First editionDescription: viii, 369 pages : illustrations ; 25 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9781250119346
  • 1250119340
Subject(s):
Contents:
Covert violence as a Kremlin tradition -- How the system works : Putin and his security services -- Galina Starovoitova : Putin's first victim? -- Terror in Russia : September 1999 -- Silencing critics -- Mafia-style killings in Moscow : Kozlov and Politkovskaya -- The Litvinenko story -- The poisoning -- Continued onslaught against Kremlin challengers -- Boris Berezovsky : suicide or murder? -- The Boston Marathon bombings : Russia's footprint -- Another democrat falls victim : the Nemtsov murder and its aftermath -- Kadyrov, Putin, and power in the Kremlin.
Summary: "'Western leaders should be aware that when they shake hands with Putin, they shake hands with a murderer.'--Leonid Martyniuk. In Russia, the twenty-first century belongs to Vladimir Putin. His political dominance has lasted two presidential terms, an appointment to prime minister, and a controversial election to a third presidential term. And like the violent tsars and Soviet revolutionaries who came before him, he maintains his grip on power through coercion and intimidation. As journalists, activists, and political opponents in the Putin era continue to fall victim to suspicious illnesses and outright murder, a pattern has emerged. No matter who is charged with a specific death, the order to kill appears to come from above. Amy Knight, whom The New York Times called the West's foremost scholar of the KGB, presents a thorough and provocative examination of murders under the Putin regime. Knight offers new information about the most famous victims, such as Alexander Litvinenko, the former FSB officer poisoned while living in London, and the statesman Boris Nemtsov, murdered outside the Kremlin in 2015. She puts faces on many others forgotten or less well-known in the West. And she links Putin to acts of terrorism--including the Boston Marathon bombing. She also explores what these murders mean for Putin's future, for Russia, and for the West, where Donald Trump has claimed, 'Nobody has proven that he's killed anyone .... He's always denied it .... It has not been proven that he's killed reporters.' Orders to Kill is a timely and chilling read in a world increasingly subject to one man's thirst for revenge."--Jacket.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 303.6094 K69 Available 33111008823466
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Ever since Vladimir Putin came to power in Russia, his critics have turned up dead on a regular basis. According to Amy Knight, this is no coincidence. In Orders to Kill , the KGB scholar ties dozens of victims together to expose a campaign of political murder during Putin's reign that even includes terrorist attacks such as the Boston Marathon Bombing.

Russia is no stranger to political murder, from the tsars to the Soviets to the Putin regime, during which many journalists, activists and political opponents have been killed. Kremlin defenders like to say, "There is no proof," however convenient these deaths have been for Putin, and, unsurprisingly, because he controls all investigations, Putin is never seen holding a smoking gun,. But Amy Knight offers mountains of circumstantial evidence that point to Kremlin involvement.

Called "the West's foremost scholar" of the KGB by The New York Times , Knight traces Putin's journey from the Federal Security Service (FSB) in the late 1990s to his subsequent rise to absolute power as the Kremlin's leader today, detailing the many bodies that paved the way. She offers new information about the most famous victims, such as Alexander Litvinenko, the former FSB officer who was poisoned while living in London, and the statesman Boris Nemtsov, who was murdered outside the Kremlin in 2015, and she puts faces on many others who are less well-known in the West or forgotten. She shows that terrorist attacks in Russia, as well as the Boston Marathon bombing in the U.S., are part of the same campaign. And she explores what these murders mean for Putin's future, for Russia and for the West, where in America Donald Trump has claimed, "Nobody has proven that he's killed anyone....He's always denied it....It has not been proven that he's killed reporters."

Orders to Kill is a story long hidden in plain sight with huge ramifications.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

"'Western leaders should be aware that when they shake hands with Putin, they shake hands with a murderer.'--Leonid Martyniuk. In Russia, the twenty-first century belongs to Vladimir Putin. His political dominance has lasted two presidential terms, an appointment to prime minister, and a controversial election to a third presidential term. And like the violent tsars and Soviet revolutionaries who came before him, he maintains his grip on power through coercion and intimidation. As journalists, activists, and political opponents in the Putin era continue to fall victim to suspicious illnesses and outright murder, a pattern has emerged. No matter who is charged with a specific death, the order to kill appears to come from above. Amy Knight, whom The New York Times called the West's foremost scholar of the KGB, presents a thorough and provocative examination of murders under the Putin regime. Knight offers new information about the most famous victims, such as Alexander Litvinenko, the former FSB officer poisoned while living in London, and the statesman Boris Nemtsov, murdered outside the Kremlin in 2015. She puts faces on many others forgotten or less well-known in the West. And she links Putin to acts of terrorism--including the Boston Marathon bombing. She also explores what these murders mean for Putin's future, for Russia, and for the West, where Donald Trump has claimed, 'Nobody has proven that he's killed anyone .... He's always denied it .... It has not been proven that he's killed reporters.' Orders to Kill is a timely and chilling read in a world increasingly subject to one man's thirst for revenge."--Jacket.

Covert violence as a Kremlin tradition -- How the system works : Putin and his security services -- Galina Starovoitova : Putin's first victim? -- Terror in Russia : September 1999 -- Silencing critics -- Mafia-style killings in Moscow : Kozlov and Politkovskaya -- The Litvinenko story -- The poisoning -- Continued onslaught against Kremlin challengers -- Boris Berezovsky : suicide or murder? -- The Boston Marathon bombings : Russia's footprint -- Another democrat falls victim : the Nemtsov murder and its aftermath -- Kadyrov, Putin, and power in the Kremlin.

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