Vadim Baranov, a successful director and television producer, becomes a political advisor to Vladimir Putin when he rises to power. His behind-the-scenes actions to support the policies of the Tsar, as the Russian president is often called, and the mystery surrounding their meetings earn him the nickname "the magician of the Kremlin." However, Baranov suddenly resigns from his position, his whereabouts are unknown, and rumors about him run wild. Until one night, he decides to tell his story to the narrator of this book...

The Magician of the Kremlin is a remarkable novel about Russia in the last thirty years. Through Baranov's narration, the events that led to Vladimir Putin's rise to power are presented, and the functioning of the Russian governance model is analyzed. The book, completed shortly before the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, was published in 2022 in France, where it became a publishing sensation.