The Kremlin conspiracy : 1,000 Years of Russian expansionism

What did it mean when Vladimir Putin stepped down from president to prime minister of Russia in 2008 and bounced to the top again in 2013? The Putin-Medvedev clique of mega-rich ex-KGB men and lawyers call their state machine kontora – the firm – and run it as though they own all the shares. They command the largest armed forces in Europe, equipped with half the world's nuclear warheads. Their air force regularly flies nuclear capable Tupolev Tu-95 strategic bombers into British airspace to analyse our radar defences and time in-the-air reaction. In a frightening foretaste of future warfare, the Kremlin launched a cyberattack on neighbouring Estonia in 2007 that crashed every computer and silenced every mobile phone, bringing the country to a complete halt. Was this just Tsar Vladimir bullying a small independent neighbour state that could not hit back – or a rehearsal for something far bigger? People call Putin's power strategy 'the new Cold War'. Author Douglas Boyd argues that it is the same one as before, fought with potent new weapons: the energy resources on which half of Europe now depends, and which can be turned off at Moscow's whim. Recounted often in the words of participants, The Kremlin Conspiracy is the chilling story of 1,000 years of bloodshed that made the Russians the way they are. Today, Ukraine. Tomorrow? The past points the way, for the men running the Kremlin 'firm' are driven by the same motivation as Ivan the Terrible and Catherine the Great. Title Page -- About the Author -- Dedication -- Contents -- Preface to the Second Edition -- Foreword -- Introduction -- Part 1: Hot Wars -- 1 Genghis Khan, Uncle Joe and Vlad the Gasman -- 2 Slaves, Amber, Furs and Terror -- 3 A Time of Giants: Peter and Catherine -- Alexis and Napoleon -- 4 Collision in the Crimea -- 5 Lies, Spies and Blood in the Streets -- 6 Death in Sarajevo, Money in the Bank -- 7 The Rainbow of Death -- Part 2: War by Other Means -- 8 The Comintern: War on the Cheap -- 9 Secret Agents in Skirts -- 10 Famine, Purges and Bundles of Used Notes -- 11 One Man, One Pistol, One Month = 6,287 Men Dead -- 12 The Politburo Takes a Short Ride -- 13 My Enemy's Enemy is also my Enemy -- 14 Poor Poland! -- 15 A Very Different Kind of Warfare -- Part 3: Cold War -- 16 Big Bangs and a Long Telegram -- 17 Living on the Far Side of the Moon -- 18 A Daughter Back from the Dead -- 19 The Proxy War that Cost 4 Million Lives -- 20 The Deadly Game of Dominoes -- 21 Voting with their Feet -- 22 Khrushchev's Sonofabitch -- 23 Spring Forward, Fall Back -- 24 Roll to your Rifle and Blow Out your Brains -- 25 And all Erich's Men ... -- 26 The End of the Evil Empire -- 27 The Making of the President, Russian Style -- Part 4: Update For the Second Edition -- 28 The Pot and the Kettle -- 29 After Ukraine, the Deluge? -- Acknowledgements -- Glossary -- Notes and Sources -- Further Reading in English -- Copyright People call Putin's power strategy the new Cold War. Author Douglas Boyd argues that it is the same one as before, fought with potent new weapons: the energy resources on which half of Europe now depends. The Cold War did not begin in 1945, but rather when Lenin created the Communist International in 1919, in a tradition of Russian expansionism that goes way further back. Recounted often in the words of participants, The Kremlin Conspiracy is the chilling story of 1,000 years of bloodshed that made the Russians the way they are. Why the title? Kremlin policy has not changed since Rurik of Novgorod and Ivan the Terrible. It's as though they are whispering in the ear of Vlad the Gasman, 'Go on, grab Crimea, and then...' Winston Churchill said: 'Never having known a Magna Carta or even the principle of trial by jury, the Russians are not like us.' So we must understand them because our leaders do not A timely book detailing more than 1,000 years of Russian expansionism, utilizing previous unpublished first person accountsPeople call Putin's power strategy the new Cold War. Author Douglas Boyd argues that it is the same one as before, fought with potent new weapons: the energy resources on which half of Europe now depends. The Cold War did not begin in 1945, but rather when Lenin created the Communist International in 1919, in a tradition of Russian expansionism that goes way further back. Recounted often in the words of participants, this is the chilling story of 1,000 years of bloodshed that made the Russians the way they are. Revealing the scandalous truth of Putin's origins, this history argues that Kremlin policy has not changed since Rurik the Novgorod and Ivan the Terrible.