Putin's Russia

As a student of Russian language I'm constantly asked "why do you study Russian, what good is that?" Well, typically I ignore the bastion of stupidity that haunts many of the questioner's minds and try to comfort them with an "oh what'd you think of Harry Potter?" but for those of you who recognize the Russian language as a possibly-legitimate venture, I have further reason for the language's importance. Anna Politkovskaya's "Putin's Russia" is a journalist's approach to the corruption and horrors of Putin's regime. I've only read the first 40 pages, but the writing has been intelligent and the content horrifying, and still highly edifying. On par with Peter Maass's "Love thy Neighbor." Furthermore, Politikovskaya was shot dead in the elevator of her Moscow apartment last year most probably due to her muckraking approach to Russian politics, specifically the Chechnyan wars. I picked up a copy at Politics and Prose for 12 bucks or something, it is Very much worth the read.

The Washington Post review: "A courageous investigative journalist...In the tradition of the great Soviet dissidents. Politkovskaya was unwavering in telling the gruesome truth about the injustices that she witnessed"