Vladimir Putin (Modern World Leaders)

A former English teacher who taught Harper Lee's novel for years, Charles J. Shields has a BA in English and an MA in American history from the University of Illinois, where he was a James Scholar. The author of many widely praised books for young people, he spent four years researching "Mockingbird" in Alabama, New York, and Kansas, speaking to hundreds of Lee's neighbors, friends, classmates, and culling facts from the archives of Truman Capote and other collections, as well as papers from the Monroe County (Alabama) courthouse and historical museum. He lives in central Virginia with his wife.

Grade 8 Up-Shields places Putin's life and career in a clear historical context. For example, he introduces his subject as a young KGB agent stationed in East Germany at the time of the fall of the Berlin Wall, then goes on to explain the Cold War from its origins to its end. The chapters on Putin's boyhood, education, and early experience in Dresden may be the most personal, but even here readers are given a sketch of the history of the Soviet Union and the city of Leningrad. Subsequent chapters examine Putin's return to Leningrad, entry into politics, and move to Moscow. The final three chapters focus on his election to the presidency of Russia, the Kursk accident, and his dealings with the West through the end of 2001. There are plenty of well-chosen, full-color photos, and the chapters are subdivided into short sections. A few careless errors mar the otherwise well-written text. Twice KGB appears as KBG, and there are some sentences such as "He was born during at the height of the Cold War-" that escaped editing. Occasionally, there are misleading statements such as the assertion that the names of Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia were erased from maps after World War II. Nevertheless, the book is timely and provides a good summary of the life of this important head of state.
Elizabeth Talbot, University of Illinois, Champaign
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