Putin's People: How the KGB Took Back Russia and Then Took On the West

The book was written by British journalist Catherine Belton, who was a Moscow correspondent for the Financial Times and lived in Russia for 16 years, where she met oligarchs, government officials, intelligence officers and Kremlin insiders.[2]

The book was reviewed by Matthew J. of Office of the Director of National Intelligence in Studies in Intelligence, who stated, "On balance, this is a useful and thought-provoking book on the trajectory of post-Soviet Russia and the continued influence of the KGB inside the Kremlin."[3]

Writing for The New York Times, Jennifer Szalai in her review questions that, "to read this book is to wonder whether a cynicism has embedded itself so deeply into the Anglo-American political classes that even the incriminating information it documents won’t make an actionable difference."[4]

In March-April 2021, HarperCollins, the publisher of the book faced several libel lawsuits by Russian oligarchs Roman Abramovich (billionaire and owner of the Chelsea football club), Mikhail Fridman (co-owner of Alfa Group), Pyotr Aven (chairman of the board of directors of Alfa Bank), and Shalva Chigirinsky (businessman).[5]