There was in existence a system of public administration and legislation, but the moves to take control of the state seem to have been a matter entirely of force, expediency and pragmatism by competing groups.

This was not only a struggle, rather it was series of struggles, for dominance of the state because the central assets of the Soviet government had fallen under the control of groups who in a short time had become fabulously wealthy.

Dr Amy Knight explains, with the ease and confidence of one who is familiar with the highly complex circumstances, the way in which Boris Berezovsky, the Russian tycoon and political operator, secured his position financially.

It is highly ironic that Berezovsky contributed in such a determined manner to the rise of Vladimir Putin to the presidency in 2000, and yet the two came to be such vitriolic enemies.

Perhaps it is too simplistic to see the struggle only in terms of Berezovsky and Putin, as there were many others who came into and out of the events of three decades or so – but Berezovsky and Putin dominated, and now there is only one.

It may be that the many students of Russia and Russian politics who follow closely contemporary events will not find much new in the sustained summary by Dr Knight.

Yet, the book is an excellent narrative for the general and interested reader of what is probably a vast range of source material. The international events recounted extend to the litigation in the English courts.

The Kremlin’s Noose: Putin’s Bitter Feud with the Oligarch who made him Ruler of Russia by Amy Knight. Published by Icon Books, 282 pp, £25.