My first graphic novel, ACCIDENTAL CZAR: THE LIFE AND LIES OF VLADIMIR PUTIN, traces Putin’s improbable journey from the bowels of the KGB to ranks of the world’s most feared leaders.

The book was illustrated by Brian “Box” Brown, an Ignatz Award–winning cartoonist, illustrator, New York Times-bestselling author, and all-around comics genius.

In my day job as Vice President for Studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, I oversee research on Russia, Ukraine, and the wider region.

I spend my free time hanging out with my kids, hitting tennis balls, and searching obsessively for forgotten 1960s and 1970s LPs.

ACCIDENTAL CZAR: THE LIFE AND LIES OF VLADIMIR PUTIN published by First Second, an imprint of Macmillan (purchase here).

Publicity: Morgan Kane, morgan.kane@macmillan.com