Frédéric Beigbeder: "Putin seen by one of his own"

It's been a very long time since I devoured a novel with such avidity.

It's what the Anglo-Saxons call a "page turner", a book whose pages you can't help turning, super-efficient and documented, which describes the backstage of Russian power for twenty years in simple writing, seductive, an incredible realism.

I haven't read a better novel on contemporary Russia since… mine!

This is THE book to read to understand the war in Ukraine.

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• Discover the “Best of the Goncourt Prize” collection

Giuliano Da Empoli relies on a precise investigation.

He imagines (or transcribed, you never know) the confession of Putin's closest adviser: Vadim Baranov, inspired by a real character named Vladislav Surkov.

This man is now under house arrest near Moscow.

I know his story well.

He has published two science fiction novels under the pseudonym of Natan Dubovitsky:

and

(the machine and the bike, neither has been translated in France).

Baranov's imaginary monologue sounds like...

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