“Book Descriptions: How did a once faceless bureaucrat, a man whose own wife said he was born under the sign of the vampire, become the idealized face of Russian manhood and its authoritarian leader? Deputy Mayor Putin examines the man behind the myth. We will explore how Putin’s formative years shaped and drove him and how the supporting cast of characters he gathered along the way helped him get to the Kremlin’s inner sanctum. We will trace Putin’s many transformations and examine how each step brought him closer to the leader he is today: from scrawny street thug to the aggressive President Putin who invaded Ukraine in early 2022.” DRIVE