Our Dear Friends in Moscow

Our Dear Friends in Moscow gives an insider account of how a hopeful period in Russian history gave way to totalitarianism and war. * iPaper *An honest, engaging memoir charting their country’s embrace of authoritarianism and imperialist violence. * Times Literary Supplement *A poignant requiem for the tantalising, doomed dream of a new Russia. * Financial Times *A searing and sobering book. * Wall Street Journal *Compelling…This gripping book juxtaposes the often difficult and lonely trade of investigative journalism with the allure of power, the desire to ingratiate, and the toxicity of grievance. It’s a very Russian story, but the human characteristics it describes are not confined to Russia. * Foreign Policy *[It] outlines a trajectory from a freer Russia at the start of Putin’s rule to a country in which the president holds captive the opinion of the majority and how some former colleagues ended up toeing the Kremlin line. * Newsweek *A searingly defiant account of the battle for truth under totalitarianism. * Kirkus (starred) *A revealing first-hand account. * Times *Fascinating. * Spectator *The inside story of Putin’s pied pipers, still playing, still leading a brainwashed nation to the slaughter. * Observer *Our Dear Friends in Moscow is a work of powerfully intimate reportage which tracks the spiritual and emotional journey of a cadre of young reporters who came of age between the fall of the Berlin Wall and the rise of Putin; between those brief years of journalistic freedom and the return of nationalistic censorship in which, for a writer, the choice was to become either a government flack or be hounded into exile or worse. What each of these friends opted to do, resist or submit, and the cost of these decisions on all aspects of their lives yields a portrait of a talented generation who aged into a future that none of them saw coming. * Richard Price, novelist and screenwriter for The Wire *Our Dear Friends in Moscow is an illuminating, engrossing, and ultimately heartbreaking portrait of Putin’s Russia, told through the eyes of a small group of friends now divided by war, politics, and a vision for the future. Soldatov and Borogan have given us a raw, unsparing, and intimate look at a Russian generation that began in great hope but ended in perpetual conflict. If you’re looking for a book that explains how the West fell out with Moscow, you’ve found it. * David McCloskey, former CIA analyst and internationally bestselling author of The Seventh Floor *This is a book that lifts the lid on how Putin has not only bludgeoned Russian liberals but also corrupted so many of them. Soldatov and Borogan have written a profound account of the emasculation of Russia’s once-vibrant media. * Robert Service, author of A History of Modern Russia *Poignant and illuminating, Soldatov and Borogan tell the story of modern-day Russia through the overlapping lives of a group of journalist friends. Our Dear Friends in Moscow is a tale of inspiring courage and wrenching compromise, written with intimacy, affection, and a heavy heart. * Clarissa Ward, chief international correspondent, CNN, and author of On All Fronts *Our Dear Friends in Moscow is a triumph: gripping, personal, and true. And tinged with sadness and regret - at what happened to Russia, to Andrei and Irina’s friends, and to the lives they once led in Moscow. * Luke Harding *

Andrei Soldatov and Irina Borogan are investigative journalists and partners, now in exile, with more than two decades’ experience of reporting on Russia. They are cofounders of Agentura.ru, an online watchdog of Russia’s security and intelligence services. Together they are the authors of multiple books, most recently The Compatriots: The Brutal and Chaotic History of Russia’s Exiles, Emigres, and Agents Abroad. They live in London.

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