{"title":"Political Science--World--Russian \u0026 Soviet","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"death-is-our-business-russian-mercenaries-and-the-new-era-of-private-warfare","title":"Death Is Our Business: Russian Mercenaries and the New Era of Private Warfare","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Extraordinary.\"-CHRIS MILLER, author of \u003ci\u003eChip War\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Incredible.\"\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e-ANNIE JACOBSEN, author of \u003ci\u003eNuclear War\u003c\/i\u003e, via X\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eFrom John Lechner, \"an amazingly bold reporter\" (Adam Hochschild), the shocking inside story of how the Wagner Group made private military companies inextricable from Russia's anti-Western foreign strategy. \u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In 2014, a well-trained, mysterious band of mercenaries arrived in Ukraine, part of Russia's first attempt to claim the country as its own. Upon ceasefire, the \"Wagner Group\" faded back into shadow, only to reemerge in the Middle East, where they'd go toe-to-toe with the U.S., and in Africa, where they'd earn praise for \"tough measures\" against insurgencies yet spark outrage for looting, torture, and civilian deaths. As Russia gained a foothold of influence abroad, Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin, known as \"Putin's Chef,\" went from caterer to commander to single greatest threat Putin has faced in his over-twenty-year rule. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eDually armed with military and strategic prowess, the Wagner Group created a new market in a vast geopolitical landscape increasingly receptive to the promises of private actors. In this trailblazing account of the Group's origins and operations, John Lechner-the only journalist to report across its many warzones-brings us on the ground to witness Wagner partner with fragile nation states, score access to natural resources, oust peacekeeping missions, and cash in on conflicts reframed as Kremlin interests. After rebelling, Prigozhin faced an epic demise-but Wagner lives on, its political, business, and military ventures a pillar of Russian operations the world over. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFeaturing exclusive interviews with over thirty Wagner Group members, \u003ci\u003eDeath Is Our Business \u003c\/i\u003eis the terrifying true tale of the renegade militia that proved global instability is nothing if not an opportunity.\u003cdiv style=\"display:none\"\u003eISBN-10: 1639733361\u003cbr\u003eISBN-13: 9781639733361\u003cbr\u003eAuthor: Lechner, John, N\/A, N\/A\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: Bloomsbury Publishing\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Bloomsbury Publishing","offers":[{"title":"HardCover (Mar 2025)","offer_id":45657874727109,"sku":"9781639733361","price":28.49,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0708\/6414\/2533\/files\/9781639733361.jpg?v=1768895493"},{"product_id":"volga-blues-a-journey-into-the-heart-of-russia","title":"Volga Blues: A Journey Into the Heart of Russia","description":"\u003cp\u003eSince the invasion of Ukraine and ban on foreign reporters, Russia seems to have sunk into an even deeper shadow than in the darkest times of the Soviet Union. Only by presenting himself as an historian was Italian journalist Marzio G. Mian able to penetrate the Russian heartland, leading to his groundbreaking cover story for \u003cem\u003eHarpers' Magazine\u003c\/em\u003e, \"Behind the New Iron Curtain.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn \u003cem\u003eVolga Blues\u003c\/em\u003e, Russian history and literature inform every step of Mian's revealing and perilous journey along Russia's most culturally significant river, the fulcrum of its history, \"the mother.\" Along with Alessandro Cosmelli, his photographer; Vlad, their translator and fixer; and Katya, Vlad's girlfriend, Mian manages to gather firsthand accounts from ordinary Russians. They discuss not only the impact of the war, Western sanctions, and their country's isolation, but how Russian culture has changed as a result. Stalin is back in favor, Lenin has been downgraded as a \"Europeanized intellectual.\" Newly sophisticated local and seasonal cuisine is all the rage. People cite centuries-old grievances to explain their fear of Western invasion, as they claim a willingness to accept nuclear apocalypse to save Russian pride. Talking with contemporary Russian intellectuals, entrepreneurs, priests, widows, mercenaries, and pacifists, Mian discovers how little the West knows about Russia and Russians. Deeply distrustful of democracy, yearning for the ideological and spiritual purity of the Orthodox Church, betrayed by and fearful of the West, and reassured by the brutal, fragile, ancient dream of an imperial civilization, they make clear that the Cold War has not yet ended.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn visceral prose, Mian takes us across the floodplains where the Russian Orthodox faith first took root, where the Soviet empire asserted itself, and where the neo-imperial project of Vladimir Putin's post-Soviet autocracy is currently being consolidated. 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Nearly twenty years later, Ioffe returned to Moscow--only to discover just how much Russian society had changed while she had been living in America. The Soviet women she had known growing up--doctors, engineers, scientists--seemed to have been replaced by women desperate to marry rich and become stay-at-home moms. How had Russia gone from portraying itself as the vanguard of world feminism to becoming a bastion of conservative Christian values?\u003cbr\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eMotherland\u003c\/i\u003e, Ioffe turns modern Russian history on its head, telling it exclusively through the stories of its women. 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For three years, he was imprisoned in the infamous Russian gulag, where the inhumane treatment threatened his health so severely his parents and the U.S. government feared for his life. After losing roughly fifty pounds from his already trim body, he was released in a 2022 prisoner swap that dominated headlines.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMost people would go home, try to move on with their lives, and forget the horrors they endured. But not Trevor Reed.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eReed trained relentlessly to regain his health and strength, aiming to volunteer in Ukraine to fight the Russians and seek revenge. Having faced Russian cruelty up close, he knew what the Ukrainians were experiencing, and he knew he could help them. Just six months after being released from prison, Reed smuggled himself into Ukraine. He fought in one of the hottest fronts of the war . . . until one dark night a comrade stepped on a land mine. 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It is the first full account of the Kremlin's game of human poker--and the extraordinary lengths the U.S. had to go to to retrieve its citizens, including Brittney Griner, Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan, Alsu Kurmasheva, and numerous others whose arrests were unseen collateral damage in a hidden conflict.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eSwap\u003c\/em\u003e unspools the history behind the series of prisoner trades that returned Moscow and Washington to the crude transactional logic of the Cold War, culminating in the two rivals' largest and most complex swap ever. On August 1, 2024, twenty-four people jailed in seven nations were exchanged, including eight Russian spies, smugglers, hackers, and a professional hit man. 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You'll meet the Gulf royals, billionaire tech moguls, and unlikely Hollywood intermediaries navigating back channels to save lives. You'll visit remote Arctic prison camps and cordoned-off Middle Eastern airstrips. 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Here is an account of life in the aftermath of an idea so powerful it once dominated a third of the world. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA magnificent tapestry of the sorrows and triumphs of the human spirit woven by a master, \u003ci\u003eSecondhand Time \u003c\/i\u003etells the stories that together make up the true history of a nation. \"Through the voices of those who confided in her,\" \u003ci\u003eThe Nation \u003c\/i\u003ewrites, \"Alexievich tells us about human nature, about our dreams, our choices, about good and evil--in a word, about ourselves.\" \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003eA BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Wall Street Journal, \u003c\/i\u003e NPR, \u003ci\u003eFinancial Times, Kirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cdiv style=\"display:none\"\u003eISBN-10: 0399588825\u003cbr\u003eISBN-13: 9780399588822\u003cbr\u003eAuthor: Alexievich, Svetlana, Shayevich, Bela\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: Random House Trade\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Random House Trade","offers":[{"title":"Paperback (Mar 2017)","offer_id":46080357302469,"sku":"9780399588822","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0708\/6414\/2533\/files\/9780399588822.jpg?v=1776036606"},{"product_id":"american-kompromat-how-the-kgb-cultivated-donald-trump-and-related-tales-of-sex-greed-power-and-treachery","title":"American Kompromat: How the KGB Cultivated Donald Trump, and Related Tales of Sex, Greed, Power, and Treachery","description":"\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003e**\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eTHE INSTANT \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNEW YORK TIMES\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e BESTSELLER\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003e**\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e*Updated with a new afterword from the author* \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e Kompromat\u003c\/i\u003e n.--Russian for \"compromising information\"\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e This is a story about the dirty secrets of the most powerful people in the world--including Donald Trump. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e It is based on exclusive interviews with dozens of high-level sources--intelligence officers in the CIA, FBI, and the KGB; thousands of pages of FBI investigations, police investigations; and news articles in English, Russian, and Ukrainian. \u003ci\u003eAmerican Kompromat\u003c\/i\u003e shows that from Trump to Jeffrey Epstein, kompromat was used in operations far more sinister than the public could ever imagine. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Among them, the book addresses what may be the single most important unanswered question of the entire Trump era: Is Donald Trump a Russian asset? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e The answer, \u003ci\u003eAmerican Kompromat\u003c\/i\u003e says, is yes, and it supports that conclusion with the first richly detailed narrative on how the KGB allegedly first \"spotted\" Trump as a potential asset, how they cultivated him as an asset, arranged his first trip to Moscow, and pumped him full of KGB talking points that were published in three of America's most prestigious newspapers.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAmong its many revelations, \u003ci\u003eAmerican Kompromat\u003c\/i\u003e reports for the first time that: \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e - \u003cb\u003eAccording to Yuri Shvets, a former major in the KGB\u003c\/b\u003e, Trump first did business over forty years ago with a Manhattan electronics store co-owned by a Soviet émigré who Shvets believes was working with the KGB. Trump's decision to do business there triggered protocols through which the Soviet spy agency began efforts to cultivate Trump as an asset, thus launching a decades-long \"relationship\" of mutual benefit to Russia and Trump, from real estate to real power. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cbr\u003e - Trump's invitation to Moscow in 1987 was billed as a preliminary scouting trip for a hotel, but according to Shvets, was actually initiated by a high-level KGB official, General Ivan Gromakov. These sorts of trips were usually arranged for \"deep development,\" recruitment, or for a meeting with the KGB handlers, even if the potential asset was unaware of it. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cbr\u003e - Before Trump's first trip to Moscow, he met with Natalia Dubinina, who worked at the United Nations library in a vital position usually reserved as a cover for KGB operatives. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cbr\u003e - In 1987, according to Shvets, the KGB circulated an internal cable hailing the successful execution of an active measure by a newly cultivated American asset who took out full page ads in \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Washington Post\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eThe Boston Globe\u003c\/i\u003e promoting policies promoted by the KGB. \u003cb\u003eThe ads had been taken out by Donald Trump\u003c\/b\u003e, who, Shvets said, would become a \"special unofficial contact\" for the KGB, that is, an intelligence asset whose role has been compared to that of the late industrialist, Armand Hammer. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA number of America's highest national security officials have said they believe Trump is a Russian asset, but neither the Mueller Report nor the numerous congressional investigations throughout Trump's presidency pursued that vital question. \u003ci\u003eAmerican Kompromat\u003c\/i\u003e does. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In addition to exploring Trump's ties to the KGB, \u003ci\u003eAmerican Kompromat\u003c\/i\u003e also shows that from Donald Trump to Jeffrey Epstein, Russian kompromat operations documented the darkest secrets of the most powerful people in the world and transformed those secrets into potent weapons. It also reveals: \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cbr\u003e - \u003cb\u003eHow Jeffrey Epstein and Trump jostled for influence and financial supremacy for years.\u003c\/b\u003e A college dropout let go from his prep school teaching job, Epstein became a millionaire in part with the help of Ghislaine Maxwell's father--media tycoon Robert Maxwell, who allegedly served as a Soviet and Israeli spy and likely gave Epstein a sum estimated between $10 and $20 million before his death in 1991. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cbr\u003e - \u003cb\u003eHow the Jeffrey Epstein-Ghislaine Maxwell sex-trafficking operation provided a source and marketplace for sexual kompromat--\u003c\/b\u003edirty secrets of the richest and most powerful men in the world\u003cb\u003e.\u003c\/b\u003e While Epstein had a rule when it came to selecting women, namely, \"the younger, the better,\" he also knew that a multimillionaire--or future leader--caught committing adultery is nothing compared to getting caught on video in the act with a minor. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cbr\u003e - \u003cb\u003eHow the Epstein-Maxwell ring helped enable young women with possible ties to Russian intelligence to gain access to the highest levels of Silicon Valle\u003c\/b\u003ey and the worlds of artificial intelligence, supercomputers, and the internet. This, at a time when Vladimir Putin has asserted, \"Whoever becomes the leader in this sphere [artificial intelligence] will become the ruler of the world.\" \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cbr\u003e - \u003cb\u003eHow Epstein had ties to Russia through sex-trafficking.\u003c\/b\u003e Epstein partnered with Jean-Luc Brunel, head of MC2 modeling agency and a major sex trafficker, who, in turn, had worked with Peter Listerman, the celebrated procurer, or \"matchmaker\" as he prefers, for Russian oligarchs. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cbr\u003e - \u003cb\u003eHow John Mark Dougan\u003c\/b\u003e, a former deputy sheriff in Mar-a-Lago's Palm Beach County, says he \u003cb\u003eacquired 478 videos confiscated from the Jeffrey Epstein investigation\u003c\/b\u003e, fled to Moscow, became only the fourth American to win asylum in Russia, and immediately gained access to Putin's inner circle, showing the ongoing power that comes from kompromat and how its value is highest before it is \"used.\"\u003cdiv style=\"display:none\"\u003eISBN-10: 0593182545\u003cbr\u003eISBN-13: 9780593182543\u003cbr\u003eAuthor: Unger, Craig\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: Dutton\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Dutton","offers":[{"title":"Paperback (Jan 2022)","offer_id":46080418250949,"sku":"9780593182543","price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0708\/6414\/2533\/files\/9780593182543.jpg?v=1776036959"},{"product_id":"the-romanovs-1613-1918","title":"The Romanovs: 1613-1918","description":"\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNEW YORK TIMES\u003c\/i\u003e BESTSELLER - From the national bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eStalin: \u003c\/i\u003e An \"epic history on the grandest scale\" (\u003ci\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/i\u003e) about the most successful dynasty of modern times, a family who created the world's greatest empire--and then lost it all. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"An essential addition to the library of anyone interested in Russian history.\" --\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e The Romanovs ruled a sixth of the world's surface for three centuries. How did one family turn a war-ruined principality intoc the world's greatest empire? And how did they lose it all? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThis is the intimate story of twenty tsars and tsarinas, some touched by genius, some by madness, but all inspired by holy autocracy and imperial ambition. Simon Sebag Montefiore's gripping chronicle reveals their secret world of unlimited power and ruthless empire-building, overshadowed by palace conspiracy, family rivalries, sexual decadence, and wild extravagance. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eDrawing on new archival research, Montefiore delivers an enthralling epic of triumph and tragedy, love and murder, that is both a universal study of power and a portrait of empire that helps define Russia today.\u003cdiv style=\"display:none\"\u003eISBN-10: 0307280519\u003cbr\u003eISBN-13: 9780307280510\u003cbr\u003eAuthor: Montefiore, Simon Sebag\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: Vintage\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Vintage","offers":[{"title":"Paperback (May 2017)","offer_id":46080560988357,"sku":"9780307280510","price":27.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0708\/6414\/2533\/files\/9780307280510.jpg?v=1776038316"},{"product_id":"the-long-transition-towards-socialism-and-the-end-of-capitalism","title":"The Long Transition Towards Socialism and the End of Capitalism","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Long Transition Towards Socialism and the End of Capitalism\u003c\/em\u003e is the latest work from renowned revolutionary Torkil Lauesen, whose decades of activism and scholarship have made him a leading voice in global anti-imperialist movements. Drawing on his deep involvement in revolutionary struggles, Lauesen offers a comprehensive analysis of socialism's long, unfolding transition. By examining pivotal moments-from the 1848 revolutions to China's market reforms-Lauesen reframes these struggles not as isolated failures but as integral steps in the global shift away from the capitalist world-system. For those committed to socialist theory and anti-imperialism, \u003cem\u003eThe Long Transition\u003c\/em\u003e provides essential insights into how the decline of capitalism and the rise of a global counter-hegemonies offer new opportunities for socialist transformation.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Another remarkable work from Torkil Lauesen. At a time when capitalism spells the doom of man and nature, this book addresses the difficulties and necessity of socialist transformation. Its message is that the fight for universal emancipation is long, yet delay is a crime. Essential reading to anyone wishing to understand the ascent of socialism and socialist thought. Its incisive examination of the history of imperialist aggression against states that adopt socialist principles covers areas rarely discussed in the mainstream.\"\u003cstrong\u003e-Ali Kadri, Sun Yatsen University, PRC\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Torkil Lauesen's \u003cem\u003eThe Long Transition Towards Socialism and the End of Capitalism\u003c\/em\u003e is a profound exploration of the global and historical dynamics of the past 150 years of the trajectory of socialism. Employing a historical materialist framework, the book challenges the reductionist 'purity politics' lens prevalent in much left analysis of socialism today. A failure to grasp the political economy of imperialism and how it has undermined the material conditions of socialist transition has led to defeatism and pessimism in Western Marxist circles. Lauesen, instead, provides reasons for optimism on the left, deftly tracing the 'fundamental contradiction' between the development of productive forces and the capitalist mode of production, demonstrating how this core conflict propels the global struggle towards socialism. The book provides a detailed historical overview of revolutionary movements, from the revolutions of 1848 to the Paris Commune and the Russian, Chinese, and decolonization revolutions of the 20\u003csup\u003eth\u003c\/sup\u003e century. Lauesen emphasizes how each revolution has contributed to the long transition from capitalism to socialism, serving as critical learning experiences for future movements. The discussion of China's strategic use of 'market socialism' highlights how the country navigated these contradictions by leveraging the dynamics of capitalism to develop its productive forces, illustrating a significant example of a transitional state adapting to global conditions. With the decline of neoliberalism and the rise of China, Lauesen highlights how Global South states have been provided 'breathing space' to remove the boot of imperialism from their necks, challenge historically polarized accumulation in the world-system, and provide support for socialist movements. This masterful analysis makes Lauesen's work essential reading for anyone interested in developing the theoretical tools required to understand \"the long transition\" and ultimately to achieve socialism on a world scale.\"\u003cstrong\u003e-Corinna Mullin, The New School, author, \u003cem\u003eConstructing Political Islam as the New Other: America and its Post-War on Terror Politics\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cdiv style=\"display:none\"\u003eISBN-13: 9798330404315\u003cbr\u003eAuthor: Lauesen, Torkil\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: Iskra Books\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Iskra Books","offers":[{"title":"Paperback (Nov 2024)","offer_id":46080602702021,"sku":"9798330404315","price":25.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0708\/6414\/2533\/files\/9798330404315.jpg?v=1776039012"},{"product_id":"my-russia-what-i-saw-inside-the-kremlin","title":"My Russia: What I Saw Inside the Kremlin","description":"\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eMy Russia \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003ereveals CNN's Jill Dougherty's transformative journey from a Cold War-era obsession with Russia to witnessing firsthand the rise of Vladimir Putin and the unraveling of a nation she grew to love\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e At the height of the Cold War, as a high school freshman, CNN's Jill Dougherty developed an obsession with Russia. Over the next half-century, she studied in Leningrad, traveled across the Soviet Union, lived in Moscow, and reported on the presidencies of Mikhail Gorbachev, Boris Yeltsin, and Vladimir Putin. Jill's life, and Putin's, intersected. They studied at the same Russian university; Jill was named CNN Moscow Bureau Chief just as Putin began his rise to power. She knew he was a former KGB officer, but she also believed he was an economic reformer. As Putin tightened his grip on the media, she changed her mind. In 2022, reporting from Moscow as Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine, she was convinced the leader with whom she once had sympathized was a tyrant threatening to destroy a country she had come to love. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eMy Russia \u003c\/i\u003echarts Russia's evolution through the eyes of an American with rare insight into Russia, its people, and its leaders.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cdiv style=\"display:none\"\u003eISBN-10: 1493087983\u003cbr\u003eISBN-13: 9781493087983\u003cbr\u003eAuthor: Dougherty, Jill\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: Lyons Press\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Lyons Press","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover (Apr 2025)","offer_id":46080613580997,"sku":"9781493087983","price":32.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0708\/6414\/2533\/files\/9781493087983.jpg?v=1776039063"},{"product_id":"the-future-is-history-national-book-award-winner-how-totalitarianism-reclaimed-russia","title":"The Future Is History (National Book Award Winner): How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia","description":"\u003cb\u003eWINNER OF THE 2017 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD IN NONFICTION \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003eFINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARDS \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWINNER OF THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY'S HELEN BERNSTEIN BOOK AWARD \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eNAMED A BEST BOOK OF 2017 BY\u003ci\u003e THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eLOS ANGELES TIMES\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eWASHINGTON POST\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eBOSTON GLOBE\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eSEATTLE TIMES\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eCHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eNEWSWEEK, \u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003ePASTE\u003c\/i\u003e, and\u003ci\u003e POP SUGAR\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe essential journalist and bestselling biographer of Vladimir Putin reveals how, in the space of a generation, Russia surrendered to a more virulent and invincible new strain of autocracy. \u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAward-winning journalist Masha Gessen's understanding of the events and forces that have wracked Russia in recent times is unparalleled. In The Future Is History, Gessen follows the lives of four people born at what promised to be the dawn of democracy. Each of them came of age with unprecedented expectations, some as the children and grandchildren of the very architects of the new Russia, each with newfound aspirations of their own--as entrepreneurs, activists, thinkers, and writers, sexual and social beings. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eGessen charts their paths against the machinations of the regime that would crush them all, and against the war it waged on understanding itself, which ensured the unobstructed reemergence of the old Soviet order in the form of today's terrifying and seemingly unstoppable mafia state. Powerful and urgent, The Future Is History is a cautionary tale for our time and for all time.\u003cdiv style=\"display:none\"\u003eISBN-10: 1594634548\u003cbr\u003eISBN-13: 9781594634543\u003cbr\u003eAuthor: Gessen, Masha\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: Riverhead Books\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Riverhead Books","offers":[{"title":"Paperback (Oct 2018)","offer_id":46080648347845,"sku":"9781594634543","price":17.1,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0708\/6414\/2533\/files\/9781594634543.jpg?v=1776039246"},{"product_id":"the-dark-side-of-the-earth-russias-short-lived-victory-over-totalitarianism","title":"The Dark Side of the Earth: Russia's Short-Lived Victory Over Totalitarianism","description":"\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003eNamed a Best History Book of the Year by \u003ci\u003eThe Times \u003c\/i\u003e(London)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003eF\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003erom \"one of Russia's smartest and best-sourced\" (\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e) reporters comes a gripping and urgent exploration of why the Soviet Union's collapse was incomplete and the Cold War was never over--revealing the resurgence of imperialism in Russia and its current implications for the war in Ukraine.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eRussian-born journalist Mikhail Zygar was ten years old when the Soviet Union collapsed. Now, after nearly ten years of research, he offers a timely and compelling new approach on Russian history--one that rewrites everything we thought we knew about the fall of the Soviet Union--and argues that its ending is yet to come. Starting with the historic launch of the first human into space in April 1961, Zygar unravels a dramatic story of resistance, resilience, and resurgence that led to the Soviet Union's dissolution--and the echoes of its legacy today. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eZygar conducted several hundred exclusive interviews with key figures, including Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, first presidents of the independent post-Soviet republics, the last first secretaries of these republics, and leaders of independence movements within them, as well as Western politicians and diplomats who were witnesses to and participants in those events. He dives into the struggles and triumphs of figures like Andrei Sakharov, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, and Vladimir Vysotsky, whose defiance of totalitarianism is both inspiring and deeply relevant. Zygar explains how the \"victory\" over the Soviet Empire may have been short-lived, as today's Russian regime maintains its imperial ambitions. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA must-read for anyone looking to understand the origins of modern Russian fascism, \u003ci\u003eThe Dark Side of the Earth \u003c\/i\u003eexplores how imperial and nationalist ideas developed during the Soviet era and eventually gave rise to the current Putinist ideology. Zygar's work is uniquely powerful--fueled by his personal ties to the Soviet era, access to historical archives, and interviews that crack open hidden truths, including several with individuals who had never before spoken on the record. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eMore than a history lesson, \u003ci\u003eThe Dark Side of the Earth\u003c\/i\u003e is a call to action and a testament to the enduring fight for truth and freedom. Zygar urges us to confront the narratives we've accepted and rethink how we face oppression today. Bold, brilliant, and deeply human, this is a story that demands to be heard.\u003cdiv style=\"display:none\"\u003eISBN-10: 1668013908\u003cbr\u003eISBN-13: 9781668013908\u003cbr\u003eAuthor: Zygar, Mikhail\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: Scribner Book Company\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Scribner Book Company","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover (Nov 2025)","offer_id":46080764477637,"sku":"9781668013908","price":32.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0708\/6414\/2533\/files\/9781668013908.jpg?v=1776040140"},{"product_id":"putins-sledgehammer-the-wagner-group-and-russias-collapse-into-mercenary-chaos","title":"Putin's Sledgehammer: The Wagner Group and Russia's Collapse Into Mercenary Chaos","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe astonishing inside story of the Wagner Group, the world's deadliest militia \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \"\u003ci\u003ePutin's Sledgehammer\u003c\/i\u003e provides an in-depth account of, and essential political and economic background to, the story of Prigozhin's meteoric rise and abrupt demise.\" ―\u003ci\u003eTimes Literary Supplement\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e A \u003ci\u003eWashington Independent Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e Best Book of the Year \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In June 2023, the Wagner Group assembled an armed convoy that included tanks and rocket launchers and set out on what seemed like a journey to take control of Moscow. 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In fact, it was inevitable following the hollowing out of the Russian military, the creeping use of contract groups for murky foreign missions, power struggles inside the Kremlin, and the ability of the new militias to corner and exploit the black economy. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Told with unique inside sourcing and expertise, \u003ci\u003ePutin's Sledgehammer\u003c\/i\u003e is a gripping and terrifying account of a superpower that contracted its soul to a pitiless militia.\u003cdiv style=\"display:none\"\u003eISBN-10: 1541703065\u003cbr\u003eISBN-13: 9781541703063\u003cbr\u003eAuthor: Rondeaux, Candace\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: PublicAffairs\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"PublicAffairs","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover (May 2025)","offer_id":46080808648901,"sku":"9781541703063","price":32.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0708\/6414\/2533\/files\/9781541703063.jpg?v=1776040468"},{"product_id":"a-kingdom-and-a-village-a-one-thousand-year-history-of-moscow","title":"A Kingdom and a Village: A One-Thousand-Year History of Moscow","description":"\u003cb\u003eAn erudite and entertaining history of Moscow, a city defined by its survival and reinvention, and whose rich history offers crucial insight into contemporary global politics \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"A magisterial account of Moscow that reveals the city's history and something of its soul through countless interwoven stories and colorful characters. . . . A gripping and enlightening journey.\"\u003cbr\u003e--Ben Rhodes, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/i\u003ebestselling author of \u003ci\u003eAfter the Fall\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe city of Moscow stands at the center of a nation comprising eleven percent of the globe's landmass, 11 time zones, and nearly 150 million people, some 13 million of whom live in the capital. 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In the centuries that followed, any number of external forces--from Tatar Mongols and Swedes to Napoleon and Hitler--set their sights on Moscow, reinforcing its self-conception as both a glittering prize and a site of perpetual defense and resurrection. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eDrawing on a rich array of archival materials, from the birchbark scrawls that record the oldest layer of Russian civilization to the articles in European newspapers heralding the opening of the magnificent Bolshoi Theater, Morrison brings to life the bloody power struggles; cultural marvels; excruciating famines, droughts, storms, and fires that have shaped and reshaped the city and reinforced its essential character. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWith \u003ci\u003eA Kingdom and a Village, \u003c\/i\u003e Morrison makes a persuasive, even impassioned case that to understand Moscow is not only to unlock the spellbinding mysteries of Russia's past but also, critically, to grasp the grim logic of its present. It is a magisterial biography of a place--and an essential guide to a people and a nation.\u003cdiv style=\"display:none\"\u003eISBN-10: 0593318455\u003cbr\u003eISBN-13: 9780593318454\u003cbr\u003eAuthor: Morrison, Simon\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: Knopf Publishing Group\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Knopf Publishing Group","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover (Mar 2026)","offer_id":46080990871749,"sku":"9780593318454","price":33.25,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0708\/6414\/2533\/files\/9780593318454.jpg?v=1776042647"},{"product_id":"the-theater-courage-and-survival-in-the-defining-atrocity-of-the-ukraine-war","title":"The Theater: Courage and Survival in the Defining Atrocity of the Ukraine War","description":"\u003cb\u003eIn the tradition of John Hersey's \u003ci\u003eHiroshima\u003c\/i\u003e, a terse and piercing look at a critical episode in the Ukraine War, from the award-winning author of \u003ci\u003eThey Will Have to Die Now.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn March of 2022, three weeks after invading Ukraine, Russian forces bombed the shelter housed in the Donetsk Regional Academic Drama Theater, in the city of Mariupol. The bombing stands, to this day, as the single worst act of mass civilian killing of the war. This book tells the story of the group of ordinary Ukrainians--workers, teachers, actors--who built that shelter, giving succor to thousands of their countrypeople, before it was destroyed. Their audacity and humor and humanity in the midst of the siege of Mariupol, against impossible odds, will leave readers inspired, amused, and devastated. 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Twenty-five years later, \u003ci\u003eThe Times\u003c\/i\u003e pulled him out of Russia over concerns for his security following his arrest in Moscow at a protest against the war in Ukraine. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFrom the \"wild\" 1990s in Moscow to narrowly escaping death under fire in Ukraine, \u003ci\u003eThe Descent \u003c\/i\u003eis a unique and personal diary of how Russia spiraled into violent insanity. Bennetts witnessed the often-terrifying events in Russia up close, observing how the Kremlin's ubiquitous propaganda warped minds and fomented hatred of Putin's foes, at home and abroad, even among people close to him. After leaving Russia, he travelled in war-torn Ukraine, where he came face-to-face with the appalling consequences of this madness. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBennetts meets a vast array of characters, from pro-war Russian politicians, influential Russian Orthodox Church officials and aggressive Kremlin activists to opposition figures and a Siberian shaman who tried to \"exorcise\" Putin, as well as Russians who took up arms to fight Moscow's invading forces. In this extraordinary panorama, Marc Bennetts shows in frightening detail how a society can lose its mind, and how easily a power-hungry leader can reshape an entire country in his own malevolent image.\u003cdiv style=\"display:none\"\u003eISBN-10: 1399421697\u003cbr\u003eISBN-13: 9781399421690\u003cbr\u003eAuthor: Bennetts, Marc\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: Bloomsbury Continuum\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Bloomsbury Continuum","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover (May 2026)","offer_id":46291789447365,"sku":"9781399421690","price":30.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0708\/6414\/2533\/files\/9781399421690.jpg?v=1780113087"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.inveni.store\/collections\/political-science-world-russian-soviet.oembed","provider":"Inveni","version":"1.0","type":"link"}