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Goodbye to Russia

A Personal Reckoning from the Ruins of War

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About this listen

 Bloomsbury presents Goodbye to Russia written and read by Sarah Rainsford.

A DAILY MAIL, FINANCIAL TIMES AND PROSPECT POLITICS BOOK OF THE YEAR
SHORTLISTED FOR THE BEST BOOK BY A NON-PARLIAMENTARIAN IN THE WESTMINSTER BOOK AWARDS

'Quite simply the best and most powerful book I’ve read this year' David Peace
'A magnificent book . . . beautifully written and passionately argued' Dominic Sandbrook
'A remarkable eye-witness account of Russia’s descent into authoritarianism and war' Catherine Belton

A unique, personal insight into Vladimir Putin’s Russia and the devastating impact his rule has had on his own people and those of neighbouring Ukraine.

In 2021, BBC journalist Sarah Rainsford set out to write a book about how Russians who dared to think differently to the Putin regime were being labelled as enemies, foreign agents and even traitors. It was to chart Russia's slide from democracy and warn of where the crushing of liberties could lead. She had experienced something of that herself when she was expelled from Moscow as a supposed 'security threat'. Then, in February 2022, Putin began his full-scale invasion of Ukraine, moving faster than her worst fears.

This is the story of how Vladmir Putin changed Russia so deeply that he was able to launch the biggest conflict in Europe since the Second World War. Sarah's focus is on the extraordinary characters she has encountered, from the Russians such as Boris Nemtsov and Alexei Navalny who paid with their lives for challenging Putin, to the Ukrainians she found burying their dead in Bucha. It is also her own personal reckoning with Russia, where she first lived in the 1990s: a country she saw emerge from decades of authoritarian rule to embrace new freedoms, that has now quashed internal dissent and declared a ruinous war on its neighbour.

The culmination of many years of on-the-ground reporting, Goodbye to Russia shines a light on the attacks on freedom that she has witnessed and paints an intimate portrait of the individuals who have tried to resist.©2024 Sarah Rainsford (P)2024 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc Military & War Russia War

Critic reviews

'An astonishing book. Elegiac, personal, passionate. A unique eye-witness account, spanning decades and capturing the hopes and despair of families grappling with the brutal realities of Putinism. If you want to understand how Russia lost its way and invaded Ukraine, read this heartfelt, heart-breaking tale of ordinary people caught up in the madness of the Kremlin’s thuggery' (Andrew Harding)

'A compelling and moving read; it is a lament for a lost Russia, and a poignant look at the suffering inflicted on Ukraine. It’s also a personal take on a country and a war that has profoundly affected Europe. I can’t recommend it highly enough' (Reeta Chakrabarti)
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the brutal repression of people, and the thought of the life they could be living, without the fascist dictator.

the hopeless situation most Russian people who are yet another generation of prisoners in their own land.

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I felt completely drawn in to the changing landscape of life in Russia seen through the eyes, first of all student, then bar maid & finally a journalist . The love of a country turning to revulsion of its leaders

Vivid storytelling of 3 decades in Russia

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This is a magnificent story of over 20 years of living in and reporting from Russia.

From the early student days in post-soviet times, to reporting of the early pre-Putin democratic years and then the repression and dictatorship of Putin and the resulting Ukraine war.

There is a focus on individual personal stories of dissidents impacted by the arbitrary nature of Putin's legal system.

One can't avoid understanding how evil Putin's Russia has become. A remarkable achievement.

As close to Putin's Russia as it gets.

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I always like author narrated books - they are invested in them. The harsh reality of Russia as it has become is sobering. I also worked there and have many friends there and in Ukraine.

Gripping and frightening at the same time

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Sarah’s knowledge of and clear love for the Russia she spent so many years living in and reporting on is a clear and poignant counterpoint to the tragedy that has befallen the country under the tyranny and oppression of Putin. Thoroughly well written and presented.

A riveting listen.

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