The title of Giuliano da Empoli’s 2022 novel, The Wizard of the Kremlin, knowingly evokes vividly Technicolored Hollywood fantasies: There’s no place like Motherland; please pay attention to the man behind the (Iron) curtain. An Italian Swiss think-tanker, essayist, and high-end political adviser, da Empoli is fascinated by Machiavellian machinations. The book’s protagonist, Vadim Baranov, is a sorcerer skilled in the dark arts of propaganda and ideological brand management. The character is a