If you want to know how Russia's international relations played out during Vladimir Putin's first decade or so in power, 'Putin, Russia and the West' is the place to find out: interviews with senior people from all sides (not Putin personally, but almost everybody else who matters) give what seem to be basically honest accounts. What you don't get is a sense of broader context - the real meaning of the west's "pro-democracy" agenda is not really questioned, and we learn of Putin essentially ordering the murder of his enemies without really getting much insight into whatever passes for his soul. In short, what we see is diplomacy as related by the diplomats: intriguing, but you need to form your moral worldview elsewhere. A follow-up, covering the last six years, would seem overdue.
Review of Putin, Russia and the West
