Patriot

If anyone asks me which book has moved me more than any other in recent years, it must be this one. I approached it cautiously, given its subject matter, wondering if it would be too harrowing, but instead I feel enlightened and encouraged by the experience.
 
Alexei Navalny’s death in a Russian Arctic prison early in 2024 distressed many of his supporters around the world as it was obvious he was murdered on the orders of Vladimir Putin. Russia’s hope of a democratic new age free from corruption, lies and ruthless government control was seemingly crushed.
 
Yet this translated memoir in Navalny’s own words contains a comforting message of optimism. Of course, much of it is confronting, but his bravery, stoicism, love for his family and loyalty to his homeland shines through. He shares memories of his early days as the son of an army officer, his boyhood pranks setting fire to things, his curiosity and interest in everything from Western rock music and movies through to Harry Potter, English history, French literature. We learn how he wove his way through the unethical and crooked university system to become a lawyer, coming to prominence through his blogs exposing corruption in business and government on Live Journal at a time when the “senile” Russian authorities thought the Internet was some passing fad and irrelevant. How wrong they turned out to be.
 
He is unflinching in sharing his mistakes, his prejudices, his obsessions, his changes of opinion. There is also much comedic relief in the way in which he relates the incompetence and farcical stupidity involved in the numerous trumped-up charges, arrests and trials that he was subject to, poking fun at Putin’s hench-persons with unfailingly ironic humour. From youthful atheism to a late conversion to the Christian faith, he is equally honest.
 
Above all, he hates the layers of lies that are the foundation of every facet of life in his country. A speech he gave after one trial is recorded in full in which he accuses the judge and the prosecutors of being too ashamed to look at him directly as they pass sentence, instead “staring at the table” while being fully aware of the gross injustices they have permitted to take place – no doubt because their own well-being is at stake if they don’t find him guilty on behalf of the State. It is courageous and spine-tingling stuff indeed.
 
After that infamous failed Novichok poison attack on his life in 2020, Navalny stubbornly refuses to bow to his would-be murderers and oppressors. He could have remained safely in the West after this near-death experience, but he returns to continue his fight in Russia, well knowing his days are numbered yet remaining proud and unrepentent. The last third of the book contains his diary entries up until a few weeks before he died. Even in the worst of conditions, through a hunger strike, physical pain and psychological torture, he remains strong. "I simply made the decision not to be afraid. I weighed everything up, understood where I stand - and let it go."
 
Russia is now (and always has been to a considerable extent) a nation in which the iron fist of autocracy prevails. All earlier attempts at true democracy have been fleeting, going back to the days of the Tsars and as recently as the post-Gorbachev years. In the last century, the early idealism of Communism deteriorated into some of the world’s worst abuses of human rights via persecution and mass murder. *
 
In our increasingly disturbing modern political landscape in which even Western democracy is under threat, and corruption, criminal and underhand dealings and outright bully-boy tactics can get you voted into the highest office in the land, it is reassuring to know there are still those who believe in a higher order of humanity and in respect, honesty and, above all, truth. Cynics might suggest that even if Navalny had been able to succeed in overthrowing the present regime, he too would be doomed to fail or fall under the spell of power that is endemic in Russia, even perhaps hard-wired into that nation’s political DNA.  As it stands, an early death leaves his character unsullied and he will remain a beacon of hope to others who may one day find similar courage to change the status quo.
 
Vale Alexei Navalny, a hero for the ages.

"My story will continue, but whatever happens to me and my friends and allies in opposition, Russia has every possibility of becoming a prosperous, democratic country. This sinister regime, based on lies and corruption is doomed. Dreams can become reality. The future is ours."


Five Stars

 
* My mother’s family were forced to escape the tyranny of the Bolsheviks and I’ve always had a fascination with the complex Russian psyche and how it has impacted that country’s history.

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