"'Judah is an intrepid reporter and classy political scientist.' (Luke Harding, The Guardian) 'The best of a recent crop of books on the Russian president, it describes the essential corruption of the system Putin created (supposedly) to clean up the country. It spans the extent of this huge country as well as the decade and a half that Putin has been in power.' (Oliver Bullough, The Telegraph) 'A beautifully written and very lively study of Russia that argues that the political order created by Vladimir Putin is stagnating - undermined by corruption and a failure to modernise economically. Judah's reporting stretches from the Kremlin to Siberia and has a clear moral sense, without being preachy.' (Gideon Rachman, Financial Times) 'Ben Judah, a young freelance writer, paints a more journalistic - and more passionate - picture in Fragile Empire. He shuttles to and fro across Russia's vast terrain, finding criminals, liars, fascists and crooked politicians, as well as the occasional saintly figure.' (The Economist) 'this detailed and impressive account of Putin's years in office' (Ian Critchley, The Sunday Times)"

Ben Judah is Russia and Central Asia Fellow at the European Council of Foreign Relations. He travels regularly throughout Russia and the former USSR, and his writings appear in such journals as the Economist, Foreign Policy, Financial Times, Standpoint, and the New Republic. He lives in London.