With the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia launched itself on a fitful transition to Western-style democracy and a market economy. But a decade later, Boris Yeltsin's handpicked successor-Vladimir Putin, a self-described childhood hooligan turned KGB officer-resolved to end the revolution. Kremlin Rising offers both unsettling revelations about Russia's leader and a compelling inside look at life in the land he is building. This book is an extraordinary contribution to our understanding of Russia and the debate about the country's uncertain future and its relationship with the United States.