Treacherous Path: An Insider's Account of Modern Russia

Vladimir Yakunin, a Soviet diplomat and KGB officer, returned to Russia in 1991 after his posting in New York. The state had been dissolved, and millions of his compatriots suffered. Yakunin's book "The Treacherous Path" is an account of his experiences on the front line of Russia's implosion and eventual resurgence, and of a career that has taken him from the furthest corners of the nation to the Kremlin's corridors.

Format: Hardback
Length: 352 pages
Publication date: 12 April 2018
Publisher: Biteback Publishing

In 1991, Vladimir Yakunin, a Soviet diplomat and KGB officer, returned from his posting in New York to a country that no longer existed. The state that he had served for all his adult life had been dissolved, the values he knew abandoned. Millions of his compatriots suffered as their savings disappeared and their previously secure existences were threatened by an unholy combination of criminality, corruption, and chaos. Others thrived amid the opportunities offered in the new polity, and a battle began over the direction the fledgling state should take. While something resembling stability was won in the early 2000s, today Russia's future remains unresolved; its governing class divided. The Treacherous Path is Yakunin's account of his own experiences on the front line of Russia's implosion and eventual resurgence, and of a career as an intelligence officer, a government minister, and for ten years the CEO of Russia's largest company that has taken him from the furthest corners of this incomprehensibly vast and complex nation to the Kremlin's corridors. Tackling topics as diverse as terrorism, government intrigue, and the reality of doing business in Russia, and offering unparalleled insights into the post-Soviet mindset, this is the first time that a figure with Yakunin's background has talked so openly and frankly about his country.

Weight: 528g
Dimension: 234 x 157 x 28 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781785903014