Our Dear Friends in Moscow - by Irina Borogan & Andrei Soldatov (Hardcover)

About the Book

"Our Dear Friends in Moscow tells the story of a group of young Russians, part of an idealistic generation who came of age in Moscow at the end of the twentieth century, just as the communist era imploded and a future full of potential, and uncertainty, stood in front of them. At home, civil war stalked the Russian border in Chechnya, and terrorism came to Moscow. More discreetly, the new Russian government began to pull back from reconciliation with the United States and the West; by the time of Vladimir Putin's second term as president, the country had embraced a kind of ethno-nationalism and was heading for war at home and abroad. The group is torn apart by the shift in Russia. Some flee; others become sinister agents of the ever more aggressive state. The center cannot hold"-- Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

Two of Russia's most prominent investigative journalists tell the "gripping" (Foreign Policy) story of how the hopes of their generation of optimistic Russians in the 1990s was replaced by autocracy, fear, and betrayal

A Foreign Affairs Best Book of the Year

Our Dear Friends in Moscow tells the story of a group of young Russians, part of an idealistic generation who came of age in Moscow at the end of the twentieth century, just as the communist era imploded and a future full of potential, and uncertainty, stood in front of them. Initially, the group seized and enjoyed the freedoms of the new era, but quickly the notion that Russia was destined to join the West, and Europe, in a new partnership began to fade. At home the economy crashed, civil war stalked Chechnya, and terrorism came to Moscow. More discreetly, the new Russian government, getting angrier at the West and collecting a list of grievances, began to pull inward. By the time of Vladimir Putin's second and apparently endless term as president, the country had embraced a kind of ethnonationalism and was heading for war at home and abroad.

The group is torn apart by the shift in Russia. Some flee; others become sinister agents of the ever more aggressive state. The center cannot hold.

Review Quotes

"[An] essential read not only for grasping how Russia became what it is today--and what it may remain after Putin leaves the stage--but also for Europeans who care about safeguarding their countries' democratic values, both individually and institutionally."--Politico

A Foreign Affairs Best Book of the Year

"In this extraordinary memoir, they explore the combination of ambition, resentment, ideology, and opportunism that turned journalists into government attack dogs--and, remarkably, conduct searching interviews with their former friends."--Ben Smith, Semafor Flagship

"In this engrossing memoir, they follow the personal trajectories of their colleagues, examining choices they made as Putin's regime became increasingly repressive."--Angela Stent, Survival

"Soldatov and Borogan show how Putin's deliberate strategy to 'wall off Russia from the West, ' as they put it, has been enabled and augmented by Russians themselves."--Foreign Affairs

​"An honest, engaging memoir charting [Russia's] embrace of authoritarianism and imperialist violence."--Times Literary Supplement

"[It] outlines a trajectory from a freer Russia at the start of Putin's rule to a country in which the president holds captive the opinion of the majority and how some former colleagues ended up toeing the Kremlin line."--Newsweek

"The inside story of Putin's pied pipers, still playing, still leading a brainwashed nation to the slaughter."--Observer (UK)

"A searing and sobering book."--Wall Street Journal

"A poignant requiem for the tantalising, doomed dream of a new Russia."--Financial Times

"Fascinating."--Spectator (UK)

"A revealing first-hand account."--Times (UK)

"Compelling...This gripping book juxtaposes the often difficult and lonely trade of investigative journalism with the allure of power, the desire to ingratiate, and the toxicity of grievance. It's a very Russian story, but the human characteristics it describes are not confined to Russia."--Foreign Policy

"A searingly defiant account of the battle for truth under totalitarianism."--Kirkus (starred)

"Our Dear Friends in Moscow is a work of powerfully intimate reportage which tracks the spiritual and emotional journey of a cadre of young reporters who came of age between the fall of the Berlin Wall and the rise of Putin; between those brief years of journalistic freedom and the return of nationalistic censorship in which, for a writer, the choice was to become either a government flack or be hounded into exile or worse. What each of these friends opted to do, resist or submit, and the cost of these decisions on all aspects of their lives yields a portrait of a talented generation who aged into a future that none of them saw coming."--Richard Price, novelist and screenwriter for The Wire

"Our Dear Friends in Moscow is an illuminating, engrossing, and ultimately heartbreaking portrait of Putin's Russia, told through the eyes of a small group of friends now divided by war, politics, and a vision for the future. Soldatov and Borogan have given us a raw, unsparing, and intimate look at a Russian generation that began in great hope but ended in perpetual conflict. If you're looking for a book that explains how the West fell out with Moscow, you've found it."--David McCloskey, former CIA analyst and internationally bestselling author of The Seventh Floor

"Poignant and illuminating, Soldatov and Borogan tell the story of modern-day Russia through the overlapping lives of a group of journalist friends. Our Dear Friends in Moscow is a tale of inspiring courage and wrenching compromise, written with intimacy, affection, and a heavy heart."--Clarissa Ward, chief international correspondent, CNN, and author of On All Fronts

"This is a book that lifts the lid on how Putin has not only bludgeoned Russian liberals but also corrupted so many of them. Soldatov and Borogan have written a profound account of the emasculation of Russia's once-vibrant media."--Robert Service, author of A History of Modern Russia

About the Author

Andrei Soldatov and Irina Borogan are investigative journalists and partners, now in exile, with more than two decades' experience of reporting on Russia. They are cofounders of Agentura.ru, an online watchdog of Russia's security and intelligence services. Together they are the authors of multiple books, most recently The Compatriots: The Brutal and Chaotic History of Russia's Exiles, Émigrés, and Agents Abroad. They live in London.