Book cover of Patriot: A Memoir

Book description

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: THE NEW YORKER, THE ATLANTIC, NPR • LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD • The powerful and moving memoir of a fearless political opposition leader who paid the ultimate price for his beliefs.

"Patriot is by turns…

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Why read it?

3 authors picked Patriot as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

The moving story of Navalny's fate after he had the temerity to challenge the authority and power of the Russian government. I found the book, based mostly on Navalny's prison diaries, both inspiring and shocking. His courage and stoicism jumped from the page to inspire. His exposure of the details of endemic corruption was a shock, even if the basic facts may be well known. And his accounts of what becomes important to a prisoner - the rare taste of an egg or a slice of apple, the uncommon kindness of a warder - give the reader an otherwise unattainable…

Navalny is a hero and a martyr. He writes with wit and intelligence under the worst imaginable circumstances.

Reading this book after Navalny’s death was deeply affecting. It is, above all, a statement of faith—not in any ideology, but in the possibility of a better Russia. What stayed with me most was the blend of wit, clarity, and sheer nerve.

Navalny knew the price he might pay for returning to Moscow, but he chose it anyway. His courage was purposeful, his optimism deliberate. This book is both a personal testament and a political act, and its resonance only grows with time.

From Ian's list on what courage really looks like.

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