Of Course Putin's Heroes Are Too Good to Be True

For most of his 17-year reign, Russian President Vladimir Putin wasn't much of an ideologue: He focused on the economy and on recentralizing power. But during his latest term as president, and especially since the 2014 Crimea annexation, Putin has made an effort to create an ideological basis for his newly assertive global stance -- and a pantheon of heroes to match. The effort, as has often been the case in Russia, is based on revisionist history.