![Hello, Future! [Please be kind.] Hardcover Journal](https://hachette.imgix.net/books/9781546015079.jpg?w=210&h=280&fit=crop)
Putin's Sledgehammer: The Wagner Group and Russia s Collapse into Mercenary Chaos
Candace Rondeaux
Formats & Editions
The astonishing inside story of the Wagner Group, the world's deadliest militia"Putin's Sledgehammer provides an in-depth account of, and essential political and economic background to, the story of Prigozhin's meteoric rise and abrupt demise." ?Times Literary Supplement
In June 2023, the Wagner Group assembled an armed convoy that included tanks and rocket launchers and set out on what seemed like a journey to take control of Moscow. The last person to attempt such a venture was Adolf Hitler.
Wagner's power began from patronage, then grew from international theft and extortion, until it was so great it exposed the weakness of Russia's conventional military and became a threat to the Russian state, one that was not demonstrably eliminated until a private jet containing Wagner's core commanders was blown up in midair.
That Yevgeny Prigozhin, a local criminal thug, was able to build a private army that was on the threshold of overwhelming the world's second largest country seems incredible. In fact, it was inevitable following the hollowing out of the Russian military, the creeping use of contract groups for murky foreign missions, power struggles inside the Kremlin, and the ability of the new militias to corner and exploit the black economy.
Told with unique inside sourcing and expertise, Putin's Sledgehammer is a gripping and terrifying account of a superpower that contracted its soul to a pitiless militia.
Read MorePraise for Putin's Sledgehammer: The Wagner Group and Russia s Collapse into Mercenary Chaos
-
Rondeaux's detailed analysis shows how the country's restructuring under Putin provided fertile soil for Prigozhin. - The New York Times Book ReviewThorough... [Rondeaux] goes deeper than anyone else in tracing the origins of the Wagner Group. - The New York Review of BooksA layered account that draws on corporate registries, court records, ship and plane path data as well as multiple interviews. The end product? A brilliant guide to future putschists on how not to topple Putin. - Times (UK)Putin's Sledgehammer provides an in-depth account of, and essential political and economic background to, the story of Prigozhin's meteoric rise and abrupt demise. - Times Literary SupplementRondeaux combines vivid journalistic clarity and unbiased academic reflection in Putin's Sledgehammer. - Irish TimesReads more like a breathless spy thriller than an academic exploration... Putin's Sledgehammer is a seminal work of incisive insight not only about the Wagner Group and its late charismatic leader but also about modern mercenaryism and why we should care about it. - Washington Independent Review of BooksComprehensive... exceedingly well researched... enlightening... a must-read case study on the future of proxy war in the 21st century. - Small Wars JournalRondeaux places Prigozhin and other paramilitary warlords, who had been active in fighting Ukraine long before the 2022 invasion, in the context of contemporary Russian politics, with Putin betting that the West had no strategies to counter them-correctly, she adds... An illuminating look at a nationalist army. - Kirkus
Find a book you'll love, get our newsletter
© Hachette Aotearoa | New Zealand, All Rights Reserved · Site by Chook