The Russian democratic experiment continues under its third president, Vladimir Putin. Now in his second term, Putin was an unknown when he was handpicked by Boris Yeltsin to succeed him. Although Putin was quiet and almost withdrawn compared with the loud, large, and unpredictable Yeltsin, he held strong convictions about how the country should be managed and where he wanted to stand on the world’s stage.As a boy in the slums of Leningrad, Putin dreamed of serving his country. Recruited by the Soviet secret police as a counterintelligence spy, he was responsible for stealing classified high-tech secrets from the West. But when the Soviet Union’s Communist rule dissolved in November 1989, Putin returned to Leningrad angry and confused, and determined to find another way to serve this new country. His fierce patriotism and ambition led him to the top governmental position in Russia.

Vladimir Putin (Modern World Leaders) by Charles J Shields (2007-01-01) PDF

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