Essential reading on Russia today and the war, how this current gangster state became, it pulls together a lot of threads, the evidence is compelling and shocking. As someone who has watched the collapse of communism and the USSR since 1960, it reveals a lot that wasn't known. Rather, information was deliberately confused and misrepresented by 'western' bias, so few people knew anything for sure. This book fills a lot of gaps. I found it fascinating. A brave author. thank you Masha.