The Invention of Russia. From Gorbachev's Freedom to Putin's War
How did a country that liberated itself from 70 years of Soviet rule end up as one of the biggest threats to the West and to its own future? Why did the people who rejected communist ideology accept a new regime of state propaganda?
The Invention of Russia is a groundbreaking reconsideration of the events leading up to the disintegration of the Soviet Union and of the country’s march towards militarism and authoritarianism under Putin. Its main characters are not politicians but those who took charge of the media and the message and invented Russia’s dominant narrative. First published in 2015 it clearly warned about the dangers of the largest war in Europe since 1945.
Winner of the Orwell Prize.
“Anyone who has spent time in Russia over the past 30 years should be deeply grateful for Arkady Ostrovsky’s fast-paced and excellently written book… A first class journalist who has spent many years covering Russia for The Financial Times and The Economist, he is also a native of the Soviet Union, with an instinctive understanding of how politics, ideas and daily life really work there…. For better or for worse, Mr. Putin has forced the world to reckon with a surly and combative Russia again. Mr. Ostrovky provides a much needed, dispassionate and eminently readable explanation of how it happened.”
— Serge Schmemann, The New York Times
“How did Putinism come to pervade the psyche of the nation?… Ostrovsky’s sparkling prose and deep analysis provide a sweeping tour d’horizon of Russia’s malaise.”
— The Wall Street Journal
“How did Putinism come to pervade the psyche of the nation?… Ostrovsky’s sparkling prose and deep analysis provide a sweeping tour d’horizon of Russia’s malaise.”
— The Washington Post