Putin’s Sledgehammer
On sale
5th June 2025
Price: £28
Genre
Eastern Europe / Former Soviet Union, Ussr (europe) / Geopolitics / Politics & Government / Russia
Selected:
Hardcover / ISBN-13: 9781541703063
The astonishing inside story of the Wagner Group, the world’s deadliest militia
“Putin’s Sledgehammer provides an in-depth account of, and essential political and economic background to, the story of Prigozhin’s meteoric rise and abrupt demise.” ―Times Literary Supplement
In June 2023, the Wagner Group assembled an armed convoy that included tanks and rocket launchers and set out on what seemed like a journey to take control of Moscow. The last person to attempt such a venture was Adolf Hitler.
Wagner’s power began from patronage, then grew from international theft and extortion, until it was so great it exposed the weakness of Russia’s conventional military and became a threat to the Russian state, one that was not demonstrably eliminated until a private jet containing Wagner’s core commanders was blown up in midair.
That Yevgeny Prigozhin, a local criminal thug, was able to build a private army that was on the threshold of overwhelming the world’s second largest country seems incredible. In fact, it was inevitable following the hollowing out of the Russian military, the creeping use of contract groups for murky foreign missions, power struggles inside the Kremlin, and the ability of the new militias to corner and exploit the black economy.
Told with unique inside sourcing and expertise, Putin’s Sledgehammer is a gripping and terrifying account of a superpower that contracted its soul to a pitiless militia.
“Putin’s Sledgehammer provides an in-depth account of, and essential political and economic background to, the story of Prigozhin’s meteoric rise and abrupt demise.” ―Times Literary Supplement
In June 2023, the Wagner Group assembled an armed convoy that included tanks and rocket launchers and set out on what seemed like a journey to take control of Moscow. The last person to attempt such a venture was Adolf Hitler.
Wagner’s power began from patronage, then grew from international theft and extortion, until it was so great it exposed the weakness of Russia’s conventional military and became a threat to the Russian state, one that was not demonstrably eliminated until a private jet containing Wagner’s core commanders was blown up in midair.
That Yevgeny Prigozhin, a local criminal thug, was able to build a private army that was on the threshold of overwhelming the world’s second largest country seems incredible. In fact, it was inevitable following the hollowing out of the Russian military, the creeping use of contract groups for murky foreign missions, power struggles inside the Kremlin, and the ability of the new militias to corner and exploit the black economy.
Told with unique inside sourcing and expertise, Putin’s Sledgehammer is a gripping and terrifying account of a superpower that contracted its soul to a pitiless militia.
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Reviews
This description of the rot in Russia is brilliant. Candace Rondeaux exposes the corruption in the Russian military that hollowed out its fighting ability, the fragility of its chain of command, the infighting within the Russian security services, the damaging effect of the loss of Syria and African battles. Prigozhin's Wagner Group, Russia's shadow army, was brutal, amoral, ruthless-evil.
Rondeaux's detailed analysis shows how the country's restructuring under Putin provided fertile soil for Prigozhin.
Comprehensive... exceedingly well researched... enlightening... a must-read case study on the future of proxy war in the 21st century.
Rondeaux combines vivid journalistic clarity and unbiased academic reflection in Putin's Sledgehammer.
Putin's Sledgehammer provides an in-depth account of, and essential political and economic background to, the story of Prigozhin's meteoric rise and abrupt demise.
Rondeaux places Prigozhin and other paramilitary warlords, who had been active in fighting Ukraine long before the 2022 invasion, in the context of contemporary Russian politics, with Putin betting that the West had no strategies to counter them-correctly, she adds... An illuminating look at a nationalist army.
Reads more like a breathless spy thriller than an academic exploration... Putin's Sledgehammer is a seminal work of incisive insight not only about the Wagner Group and its late charismatic leader but also about modern mercenaryism and why we should care about it.
Thorough... [Rondeaux] goes deeper than anyone else in tracing the origins of the Wagner Group.
Highly detailed and magnificently written, Putin's Sledgehammer has much to offer... A must-read foreign-affairs title.
Candace Rondeaux has given us a riveting story of how Putin used a criminal mercenary organization to do his dirty work. She also tells us how the Wagner Group turned on its master. Putin's Sledgehammer is a must-read for anyone interested in the future of Russia and how to counter the Kremlin's wars and shadow wars across the globe.
A layered account that draws on corporate registries, court records, ship and plane path data as well as multiple interviews. The end product? A brilliant guide to future putschists on how not to topple Putin.