Philip Short

The monumental biography of the most influential leader on the world stage in the last twenty years. Vladimir Putin is a pariah to the West. He has the power to reduce the West to nuclear ashes. He invades his neighbours, meddles in western elections, and orders assassinations. Yet many Russians continue to support him. Under Putin's leadership, Russia has once...

One of the great figures of the twentieth century, Chairman Mao looms irrepressibly over the economic rise of China. Mao Zedong was the leader of a revolution, a communist who lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty, an aggressive and distrustful leader, and a man responsible for more civilian deaths than perhaps any other historical figure. Now, four decades after...

The monumental biography of the most influential leader on the world stage in the last twenty years. Magisterial - Guardian Outstanding - Ian Kershaw Vladimir Putin is a pariah to the West. Alone among world leaders, he has the power to reduce the United States and Europe to ashes in a nuclear firestorm and has threatened to do so. He...

The definitive portrait of Pol Pot, the enigmatic man behind the most terrifying regime of modern times. Pol Pot was an idealistic, reclusive figure with great charisma and personal charm. He initiated a revolution whose radical egalitarianism exceeded any other in history. But in the process, Cambodia descended into madness, and his name became a byword for oppression. In the...