Black Wind, White Snow

“What did Putin mean by ‘Eurasia’ and where does his project come from? This is the question Charles Clover sets out to answer in this though-provoking book. Part intellectual history, part portrait gallery . . . Black Wind, White Snow traces the background to Putin’s ideas with verve and clarity.”—Geoffrey Hosking, Financial Times “Clover writes knowledgeably and engagingly of the Russian political scene . . . Readers who would like to make that judgement for themselves in the case of today’s Russia will scarcely find a better introduction than Black Wind, White Snow.”—Edmund Griffiths, Times Literary Supplement “A veteran Financial Times correspondent analyses what really motivates the regime in Moscow by tracing the rise of Eurasianism: the belief (crudely put) that Russia’s national identity is determined by ethnicity, geography and destiny.”—The Economist, “Books of the Year 2016” “Black Wind, White Snow is required reading. This is a vivid, panoramic history of bad ideas, chasing the metastasis of the doctrine known as Eurasianism . . . Reading Charles Clover will help you understand the world of lies and delusions that is Eurasia.”—Ben Judah, Standpoint “An important contribution to this discussion . . . Mr. Clover’s reporting is excellent.”—The Economist “[A] deeply researched, fascinating account of how nationalist views that were once dissident or marginal in the Soviet Union seeped into the corridors of power in the Kremlin when Marxism-Leninism stopped working . . . Clover’s book deserves to win prizes for originality of mind as well as the strength of his liver—he has spent many nights drinking with these nationalists.”—Michael Burleigh, The Times “Utterly absorbing.”—Benjamin Nathans, New York Review of Books “Clover is as clear-sighted and sceptical as his subjects are obsessively totalitarian . . . [he possesses] an unfailing readability: however frightening the message one wants to read on to the last whistle.”—Brian Morton, Glasgow Herald “The new Russian nationalism for which Dugin speaks is entirely genuine. Clover casts a considerable light on its roots, on its passionate bias against the West, and on the Russian reality with which the rest of us now have to deal. His is therefore a book that needs to be read.”—Rodric Braithwaite, Open Russia “[Black Wind, White Snow] has significance beyond its immediate subject matter. Its meticulous observation provides us with a case study of birth of a new ideology, taking place before our very eyes.”—Antony Black, European Legacy “Essential reading. Charles Clover expertly traces how thinkers from Russia's nationalist fringe infiltrated the highest levels of Putin’s Kremlin and helped set Russian foreign policy on its current dangerous course.”—Andrew S. Weiss, Vice President for Studies, Russia and Eurasia Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace “Panoramic and vivid. Informative and gripping. This is required reading on Russia now.”—Ben Judah, author of Fragile Empire: How Russia Fell In and Out of Love with Vladimir Putin “Nationalism—but not as we know it. Part poetic exercise, part proto-fascism, Eurasianism is the old-new idea eating away the Russian soul and spreading throughout Europe. Clover’s book is an intellectual adventure into a dangerous ideological Wonderland.”—Peter Pomerantsev, author of Nothing is True and Everything is Possible: Adventures in Modern Russia