Reddit mentions of The Long Hangover: Putin's New Russia and the Ghosts of the Past

I read a book on it called The Long Hangover by Shaun Walker.

It is specifically about how Putin uses Soviet history to restore an identifier that was lost in the 90s during the fall of the Soviet Union. Small things like rebranding national holidays to be celebrations of the Soviet's overcoming the Nazis as opposed to remembering the sadness of all those lost in the war. There are still statues of Lenin in every town square in Russia pretty much. And there is a collective reimagination of the purpose of the Gulags that they were a necessary evil and that Stalin did wonders to promote the Soviet Union as a world power.

Really interesting book, I'd recommend it.