The Dark Side of the Earth

Tells the story with a mordant eye, weaving together the disintegration of Mikhail Gorbachev’s reformist ambitions, the implosion of the Soviet economy and the plight of ordinary people – DOMINIC SANDBROOK, Times Books of the YearThis is history as experience, systems rendered through the lives they shape and often destroy … The Dark Side of the Earth shines * DAILY TELEGRAPH *I love books that tell the story of an entire country through the intimate, everyday lives of its people - both famous and unknown. Mikhail Zygar is one of the most thoughtful Russian writers of our time, and behind every page lies meticulous, painstaking work. You may think you know how it all ends, but still, you simply can’t put it down – YULIA NAVALNAYA, pro-democracy activist and widow of Alexei NavalnySavage, comic and tragic. Mikhail Zygar’s brilliant eye-witness account of the end of the Soviet Union takes you to the heart of modern Russia – JOHN CRACE, author of DEPRAVED NEW WORLDBlends political history, cultural studies, and biographical narrative to illuminate the persistence of imperial ideology … The Dark Side of the Earth reads less like a history book and more like a strategic briefing disguised as cultural analysis. Zygar’s central insight is that Russia’s post-Soviet trajectory cannot be understood through policy alone - it must be decoded through the stories it tells itself * THE CIPHER BRIEF *A marathon effort to retell the story of perestroika through hundreds of interviews [Zygar] conducted over several years with many of the leading participants … The tale jumps from one personality to another, weaving world events in the background, meandering across Russia’s vast landscape … It is a dramatic story, full of wonderful anecdotes … Perhaps it is the only way to write about a revolution * FINANCIAL TIMES *In Zygar’s book, it’s people who take center stage, not messiahs; individual characters, not abstract nations. We see that it wasn’t dictators who saved the world from apocalypse, but humanists. And the contrast with today’s rulers makes the book all the more bitter and revealing. And yes, it’s brilliantly written - with a lively, sparkling wit – DMITRY MURATOV, winner of the 2021 Nobel Peace PrizeZygar is one of the most brilliant observers of contemporary Russia. He is both a protagonist in his country’s recent history and a skilled analyst of its politics. The Dark Side of the Earth showcases his unique perspectives, and considerable talent for vivid storytelling as he looks back at the collapse of the Soviet Union. This is also a deeply personal story, which makes for a particularly powerful narrative and a profoundly moving book – FIONA HILL, former White House Russia advisor and witness in the impeachment of Donald TrumpAn idiosyncratic, insightful account of both the end of the Soviet Union and the rise of Putinism - a useful and timely reminder of how closely these two forms of dictatorship are connected – ANNE APPLEBAUM, author of AUTOCRACY INCThis is history as it should be: written like a novel and brimming with moral urgency. An extraordinary piece of work – IAN DUNT, author of HOW WESTMINSTER WORKS … AND WHY IT DOESN’TWeaves the lives of die-hard apparatchiks with the dreams of young Russian musicians more inspired by Dylan than Dostoevsky … A challenging but rewarding read – IRISH EXAMIINERA book that will surely endure as the definitive account of an historic era, and serve as a timely reminder that where political systems are concerned, we should perhaps be a little more careful what we wish for. – Mark Staniforth * PRESS ASSOCIATION *

Mikhail Zygar is a journalist and the founding editor-in-chief of TV Rain, which was Russia’s last independent news channel. His books include War and Punishment (2023), a defence of Ukrainian sovereighty, and All the Kremlin’s Men (2017), a critical portrait of Putin’s inner circle that was a number-one bestseller in Russia for several months. In 2024, a Moscow court convicted him for his critical reporting and sentenced him to eight and a half years in prison. He now lives in exile.