Le Mage du Kremlin

I read this when it came out about four years ago. It’s the first and so far only novel by Giuliano da Empoli.

I enjoyed its depiction of the rise of Putin and the transformation of Russia, not in a good way, something more relevant today than it was even in 2022. It is really closer to history than fiction. To digress, it almost won the Prix Goncourt but lost out in a tie (5:5) decided with a casting vote from the president of the Goncourt Academy, no doubt after a jolly good lunch at Restaurant Drouant.

Now it has been made into a film; a long film; 156 minutes; and that has made me reflect on the book. To digress, it was a gift, otherwise I would likely not have noticed it. The stand-out quote from the film (I cannot remember if it is in the book) is Putin bleating, on a private jet to Moscow from a G20 summit, “It’s always the same! They treat me like I’m the president of Finland!” Actually that is promotion. Finland enjoys  a GDP per capita of more than three times Russia’s.

A table GDP per capita of European states on Wikipedia is worth a glance. No surprise that some, not all, FSU countries have prospered but you might be surprised at Ireland’s success vis-a vis the UK and other countries. This may be misleading as I suppose companies have relocated to Ireland as a tax domicile but all the same it’s food for thought.

Trump will blow over but Putin like the poor will always be with us and the relative poverty of Russia makes him a dangerous actor – but you knew that.