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Who is this Vladimir Putin? Who is this man who suddenly--overnight and without warning--was handed the reigns of power to one of the most complex, formidable, and volatile countries in the world? How can we trust him if we dont know him? First Person is an intimate, candid portrait of the man who holds the future of Russia in his grip. An extraordinary compilation of over 24 hours of in-depth interviews and remarkable photographs, it delves deep into Putins KGB past and explores his meteoric rise to power. No Russian leader has ever subjected himself to this kind of public examination of his life and views. Both as a spy and as a virtual political unknown until selected by Boris Yeltsin to be Prime Minister, Putin has been regarded as man of mystery. Now, the curtain lifts to reveal a remarkable life of struggles and successes. Putins life story is of major importance to the world.
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An Astonishingly Frank Self-Portrait by Russia's President Vladimir Putin
with Nataliya Gevorkyan, Natalya Timakova, and Andrei Kolesnikov
Translated by Catherine A. Fitzpatrick
PublicAffairs New York www.publicaffairsbooks.com
Page iv
Copyright 2000 by Nataliya Gevorkyan, Natalya Timakova, and Andrei Kolesnikov
Published in the United States by PublicAffairsTM, a Member of the Perseus Books Group.
All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information, address PublicAffairs, 250 W. 57th Street, Suite 1321, New York, NY 10107.
Book Design by Jenny Dossin
All photographs courtesy of Vladimir Putin.
Library of Congress Card Number: 00 132549
ISBN: 1-58648-018-9
Page v
CONTENTS
Preface
vii
Principal Figures in First Person
ix
Part One: The Son
1
Part Two: The Schoolboy
13
Part Three: The University Student
27
Part Four: The Young Specialist
45
Part Five: The Spy
65
Part Six: The Democrat
83
Page vi
Part Seven: The Bureaucrat
103
Part Eight: The Family Man
147
Part Nine: The Politician
163
Appendix: Russia at the Turn of the Millennium
209
Photographs
Page vii
PREFACE
We talked with Vladimir Putin on six separate occasions, for about four hours at a time. Both he and we were patient and tolerant; he, when we asked uncomfortable questions or were too invasive; we, when he was late or asked us to turn the tape recorder off. "That's very personal," he would say.
These were meetings "with our jackets off," although we all still wore ties. Usually they happened late at night. And we only went to his office in the Kremlin once.
Why did we do this? Essentially, we wanted to answer the same question that Trudy Rubin of the Philadelphia Inquirer asked in Davos in January: "Who is Putin?" Rubin's question had been addressed to a gathering of prominent Russian politicians and businessmen. And instead of an answer, there was a pause.
We felt that the pause dragged on too long. And it was a legitimate question. Who was this Mr. Putin?
We talked to Putin about his life. We talkedas people often do in Russiaaround the dinner table. Sometimes he arrived exhausted, with drooping eyelids, but he never broke off the conversation. Only once, when it was well past mid-
Page viii
night, did he ask politely, "Well then, have you run out of questions, or shall we chat some more?"
Sometimes Putin would pause a while to think about a question, but he would always answer it eventually. For example, when we asked whether he had ever been betrayed, he was silent a long time. Finally, he decided to say "no," but then added by way of clarification, "My friends didn't betray me."
We sought out Putin's friends, people who know him well or who have played an important role in his destiny. We went out to his dacha, where we found a bevy of women: his wife, Lyudmila, two daughters-Masha and Katya-and a poodle with a hint of the toy dog in her, named Toska.
We have not added a single editorial line in the book. It holds only our questions. And if those questions led Putin or his relatives to reminisce or ponder, we tried not to interrupt. That's why the book's format is a bit unusual-it consists entirely of interviews and monologues.
All of our conversations are recorded in these pages. They might not answer the complex question of "Who is this Mr. Putin?," but at least they will bring us a little bit closer to understanding Russia's newest president.
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