The Less You Know, the Better You Sleep

David Satter has reported on Russia since the Soviet era, and this book distills his darkest conclusion. He argues that the apartment bombings of 1999, which killed hundreds of Russians and justified the second Chechen war, were the work of the security services and the founding act of Putin’s rise. From there he traces two decades of manufactured emergencies, silenced journalists, and stage managed elections. Satter was expelled from Russia in 2013. The title comes from advice a Russian acquaintance once gave him.