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'A sweeping, ambitious and impassioned chronicle' (Irish Times) - from heroic dissident journalist Mikhail Zygar, WAR AND PUNISHMENT is a journey into the myths and fantasies that led Russia to violence in Ukraine
'History is made up of myths,' writes the renowned Russian dissident journalist Mikhail Zygar. 'Alas, our myths led us to the fascism of 2022. It is time to expose them.' Drawing from his perilous career investigating the frontiers of the Russian empire, Zygar reveals how 350 years of propaganda, bad historical scholarship, folk tales and fantasy spurred his nation into war with Ukraine.
A noted expert on the Kremlin with unparalleled access to hundreds of players in the current conflict - from politicians to oligarchs, gangsters to comedians (not least Zelensky himself) - Zygar chronicles the power struggles from which today's politics grew, and digs out the essential truths from behind layers of seductive legend. By surveying the strange, complex record of Russo-Ukrainian relations, WAR AND PUNISHMENT reveals exactly how the largest nation on Earth lost its senses. A work of history can't undo the past or transform the present, but sometimes it can shape the future.
A sweeping, ambitious and impassioned chronicle . . . It's a fiery, informed reckoning of past and present relations . . . A bold prediction from a brave writer - Irish Times
It is just possible to dream that, one day, WAR AND PUNISHMENT will be taught in Russian schools in place of the Kremlin's deadly lies - Oliver Bullough
Excellent . . . While other recent works sympathetic to the Ukrainian cause elide over the epic corruption there, Zygar is clear that before Zelensky was elected Ukraine was near to being a failed state - Sunday Times
One of those important thinkers who helps us to not lose our memory and, thus, our heads
[Zygar] seeks to demolish, myth by myth, the "imperial mindset" that led to the current conflict . . . A fine book - Observer
Knowing he could always follow many colleagues and activists into jail, hospital, or into the graveyard, Zygar persists - CNN
A searing mix of history and self-reflection - Peter Pomerantsev, author of THIS IS NOT PROPAGANDA