The Invention of Russia: The Journey from Gorbachev's Freedom to Putin's War

A landmark work of political journalism tracing how Russia's brief era of press freedom after the fall of the Soviet Union was captured, corrupted, and ultimately transformed into a tool of authoritarian control under Vladimir Putin. Arkady Ostrovsky, who lived through the period as a journalist, offers an insider's account of how Russia was invented—and reinvented—by its media.