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An original and informative look at Russia's thousand-year past, tracing the forces and the myths that have shaped Putin's politics.

About the Author

MARTIN SIXSMITH is a bestselling author, television and radio presenter and journalist. He was the BBC’s correspondent in Moscow, Washington and Warsaw and a Communications Director for the British government. His work on Russia includes the 2011 history Russia: a 1000-Year Chronicle of the Wild East, Putin’s Oil in 2012 and the 2019 novel An Unquiet Heart.
Having completed degrees in History and Russian Studies, DANIEL SIXSMITH worked as an archaeologist in Siberia and Kazakhstan before turning to historical research and writing. He contributed to the BBC Radio 4 series Russia: The Wild East, and co-authored The War of Nerves: Inside the Cold War Mind, which was short-listed for the PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Non-fiction in 2023.