Best Selling Books by Masha Gessen

History of Eastern Europe, Russia.

“When Gessen speaks about autocracy, you listen.” —The New York Times “A reckoning with what has been lost in the past few years and a map forward with our beliefs intact.” —Interview As seen on MSNBC’s Morning Joe and heard on NPR’s All Things Considered: the bestselling, National Book Award–winning journalist offers an essential guide to understanding, resisting, and recovering from the ravages of our tumultuous times. This incisive book provides an essential guide to understanding and recovering from the calamitous corrosion of American democracy over the past few years. Thanks to the special perspective that is the legacy of a Soviet childhood and two decades covering the resurgence of totalitarianism in Russia, Masha Gessen has a sixth sense for the manifestations of autocracy—and the unique cross-cultural fluency to delineate their emergence to Americans. Gessen not only anatomizes the corrosion of the institutions and cultural norms we hoped would save us but also tells us the story of how a short few years changed us from a people who saw ourselves as a nation of immigrants to a populace haggling over a border wall, heirs to a degraded sense of truth, meaning, and possibility. Surviving Autocracy is an inventory of ravages and a call to account but also a beacon to recovery—and to the hope of what comes next.

WINNER OF THE 2017 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD IN NONFICTION FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARDS WINNER OF THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY''S HELEN BERNSTEIN BOOK AWARD NAMED A BEST BOOK OF 2017 BY THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW, LOS ANGELES TIMES, WASHINGTON POST, BOSTON GLOBE, SEATTLE TIMES, CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, NEWSWEEK, PASTE, and POP SUGAR The essential journalist and bestselling biographer of Vladimir Putin reveals how, in the space of a generation, Russia surrendered to a more virulent and invincible new strain of autocracy. Award-winning journalist Masha Gessen''s understanding of the events and forces that have wracked Russia in recent times is unparalleled. In The Future Is History, Gessen follows the lives of four people born at what promised to be the dawn of democracy. Each of them came of age with unprecedented expectations, some as the children and grandchildren of the very architects of the new Russia, each with newfound aspirations of their own--as entrepreneurs, activists, thinkers, and writers, sexual and social beings. Gessen charts their paths against the machinations of the regime that would crush them all, and against the war it waged on understanding itself, which ensured the unobstructed reemergence of the old Soviet order in the form of today''s terrifying and seemingly unstoppable mafia state. Powerful and urgent, The Future Is History is a cautionary tale for our time and for all time.

National Book Award winner Masha Gessen tells an important story for our era: How the American Dream went wrong for two immigrants, and the nightmare that resulted. On April 15, 2013, two homemade bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston marathon, killing three people and wounding more than 264 others. In the ensuing manhunt, Tamerlan Tsarnaev died, and his younger brother, Dzhokhar, was captured and ultimately charged on thirty federal counts. Yet long after the bombings and the terror they sowed, after all the testimony and debate, what we still haven’t learned is why. Why did the American Dream go so wrong for two immigrants? How did such a nightmare come to pass? Acclaimed Russian-American journalist Masha Gessen is uniquely endowed with the background, access, and talents to tell the full story. An immigrant herself, who came to the Boston area with her family as a teenager, she returned to the former Soviet Union in her early twenties and covered firsthand the transformations that were wracking her homeland and its neighboring regions. It is there that the history of the Tsarnaev brothers truly begins, as descendants of ethnic Chechens deported to Central Asia in the Stalin era. Gessen follows the family in their futile attempts to make a life for themselves in one war-torn locale after another and then, as new émigrés, in the looking-glass, utterly disorienting world of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Most crucially, she reconstructs the struggle between assimilation and alienation that ensued for each of the brothers, incubating a deadly sense of mission. And she traces how such a split in identity can fuel the metamorphosis into a new breed of homegrown terrorist, with feet on American soil but sense of self elsewhere.

In this “extraordinary family memoir,”* the National Book Award–winning author of The Future Is History reveals the story of her two grandmothers, who defied Fascism and Communism during a time when tyranny reigned. *The New York Times Book Review In the 1930s, as waves of war and persecution were crashing over Europe, two young Jewish women began separate journeys of survival. Ester Goldberg was a rebel from Bialystok, Poland, where virtually the entire Jewish community would be sent to Hitler’s concentration camps. Ruzya Solodovnik was a Russian-born intellectual who would become a high-level censor under Stalin’s regime. At war’s end, both women found themselves in Moscow. Over the years each woman had to find her way in a country that aimed to make every citizen a cog in the wheel of murder and repression. One became a hero in her children’s and grandchildren’s eyes; the other became a collaborator. With grace, candor, and meticulous research, Masha Gessen, one of the most trenchant observers of Russia and its history today, peels back the layers of time to reveal her grandmothers’ lives—and to show that neither story is quite what it seems. Praise for Masha Gessen “One of the most important activists and journalists Russia has known in a generation.”—David Remnick, The New Yorker “Masha Gessen is humbly erudite, deftly unconventional, and courageously honest.”—Timothy Snyder, author of On Tyranny

Journalist Masha Gessen''s last memory of Russia was the crowd of red-eyed relatives gathered at the airport in Moscow in 1981 to wave goodbye forever to her 14-year-old self, her brother and her parents. Unwilling to have their children grow up bearing the weight of the same anti-Semitism that they and their parents had, Masha''s mother and father were emigrating to America. But Russia was Masha''s home and 10 years later she returned to a changed country, and to her two grandmothers. With intelligence and humour Masha Gessen unfolds the tale of these two women: both Eastern European Jews who lived through Polish and Russian anti-Semitism, the Second World War, the Holocaust, and the Stalin years and who bore unceasing intimidation and fear in very different ways but with similar courage, resourcefulness and sheer chutzpah. As Masha traces the characters, struggles, love affairs and families of Ester, confident and reckless, and Rosalia, sensitive and responsible, the story of twentieth-century Russia and its people, the Jews, their friends and their enemies, emerges. And so does Masha Gessen''s own story, itself a modern myth of exile and return.

From National Book Award winner Masha Gessen, the heroic story of Pussy Riot, who resurrected the power of truth in a society built on lies. On February 21, 2012, five young women entered the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. In neon-colored dresses, tights, and balaclavas, they performed a “punk prayer” beseeching the “Mother of God” to “get rid of Putin.” They were quickly shut down by security, and in the weeks and months that followed, three of the women were arrested and tried, and two were sentenced to a remote prison colony. But the incident captured international headlines, and footage of it went viral. People across the globe recognized not only a fierce act of political confrontation but also an inspired work of art that, in a time and place saturated with lies, found a new way to speak the truth. Masha Gessen’s riveting account tells how such a phenomenon came about. Drawing on her exclusive, extensive access to the members of Pussy Riot and their families and associates, she reconstructs the fascinating personal journeys that transformed a group of young women into artists with a shared vision, gave them the courage and imagination to express it unforgettably, and endowed them with the strength to endure the devastating loneliness and isolation that have been the price of their triumph.

A National Book Award winner’s personal journey through the ethical dilemmas and unsettling choices raised by the new frontier of DNA testing. Several years after Masha Gessen’s mother died of breast cancer, she discovered she too had the BRCA1 gene mutation, which predisposes women to high rates of ovarian and breast cancer. Her doctors gave her narrow options: surgical removal of her breasts and ovaries or living with the likelihood of one day developing cancer. As Gessen wrestled with her own health decisions, she sought more information about the implications of genetic testing from a variety of sources—ranging from others faced with her same dilemma to medical researchers, historians, and religious thinkers. With concerns both practical and philosophical, personal and societal, her inquiry led her across the globe, with stops in Israel, Russia, Austria, and the United States. Weaving her own story into her journalistic research, Gessen offers insight into how knowledge that was once unimaginable now shapes our lives. Blood Matters explores not only the decisions we must make in our physical and emotional health, but also the ethical choices we face when choosing spouses or having children. “Valuable reading to almost anyone facing a huge health decision, not only for the literary commiseration it offers, but also for the inspired example of medical sleuthing on one’s own behalf that it provides. Gessen keeps an inflammatory topic at room temperature, writing elegantly and without self pity.” —The New York Times Book Review

The author examines "the ways in which intellectuals are finding an identity in the new Russia."--Cover.

In 2006, an eccentric Russian mathematician named Grigori Perelman solved one of the world''s greatest intellectual puzzles. The Poincare conjecture is an extremely complex topological problem that had eluded the best minds for over a century. In 2000, the Clay Institute in Boston named it one of seven great unsolved mathematical problems, and promised a million dollars to anyone who could find a solution. Perelman was awarded the prize this year - and declined the money. Journalist Masha Gessen was determined to find out why. Drawing on interviews with Perelman''s teachers, classmates, coaches, teammates, and colleagues in Russia and the US - and informed by her own background as a math whiz raised in Russia - she set out to uncover the nature of Perelman''s astonishing abilities. In telling his story, Masha Gessen has constructed a gripping and tragic tale that sheds rare light on the unique burden of genius.

A gripping and tragic tale that sheds rare light on the unique burden of genius In 2006, an eccentric Russian mathematician named Grigori Perelman solved the Poincare Conjecture, an extremely complex topological problem that had eluded the best minds for over a century. A prize of one million dollars was offered to anyone who could unravel it, but Perelman declined the winnings, and in doing so inspired journalist Masha Gessen to tell his story. Drawing on interviews with Perelman’s teachers, classmates, coaches, teammates, and colleagues in Russia and the United States—and informed by her own background as a math whiz raised in Russia—Gessen uncovered a mind of unrivaled computational power, one that enabled Perelman to pursue mathematical concepts to their logical (sometimes distant) end. But she also discovered that this very strength turned out to be Perelman''s undoing and the reason for his withdrawal, first from the world of mathematics and then, increasingly, from the world in general.

,"A book that belongs on the shelf alongside The Gulag Archipelago. -- Kirkus Reviews A haunting literary and visual journey deep into Russia''s past -- and present. The Gulag was a monstrous network of labor camps that held and killed millions of prisoners from the 1930s to the 1950s. More than half a century after the end of Stalinist terror, the geography of the Gulag has been barely sketched and the number of its victims remains unknown. Has the Gulag been forgotten?Writer Masha Gessen and photographer Misha Friedman set out across Russia in search of the memory of the Gulag. They journey from Moscow to Sandarmokh, a forested site of mass executions during Stalin''s Great Terror; to the only Gulag camp turned into a museum, outside of the city of Perm in the Urals; and to Kolyma, where prisoners worked in deadly mines in the remote reaches of the Far East. They find that in Vladimir Putin''s Russia, where Stalin is remembered as a great leader, Soviet terror has not been forgotten: it was never remembered in the first place.

From the acclaimed author of The Man Without a Face, the previously untold story of the Jews in twentieth-century Russia that reveals the complex, strange, and heart-wrenching truth behind the familiar narrative that begins with pogroms and ends with emigration. In 1929, the Soviet government set aside a sparsely populated area in the Soviet Far East for settlement by Jews. The place was called Birobidzhan.The idea of an autonomous Jewish region was championed by Jewish Communists, Yiddishists, and intellectuals, who envisioned a haven of post-oppression Jewish culture. By the mid-1930s tens of thousands of Soviet Jews, as well as about a thousand Jews from abroad, had moved there. The state-building ended quickly, in the late 1930s, with arrests and purges instigated by Stalin. But after the Second World War, Birobidzhan received another influx of Jews—those who had been dispossessed by the war. In the late 1940s a second wave of arrests and imprisonments swept through the area, traumatizing Birobidzhan’s Jews into silence and effectively shutting down most of the Jewish cultural enterprises that had been created. Where the Jews Aren’t is a haunting account of the dream of Birobidzhan—and how it became the cracked and crooked mirror in which we can see the true story of the Jews in twentieth-century Russia. (Part of the Jewish Encounters series)

A riveting search for the roots of terrorism by the bestselling author of The Man Without a Face. The facts of the tragedy are established: on 15 April 2013, two homemade bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing three people and wounding 264 others. The elder of the brothers implicated in the attack, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, died in the ensuing manhunt; Dzhokhar’s trial got underway in early 2015. What we don’t know is why. How did such a nightmare come to pass? Award-winning Russian journalist Masha Gessen draws on her unique insight and credentials to deliver a powerful story of dislocation, and the longing for clarity and identity that can reach the point of combustion. She reconstructs the struggle between assimilation and alienation that fuelled the Tsarnaev brothers’ apparent metamorphosis into a new breed of homegrown terrorist, with their feet planted on American soil but their loyalties elsewhere — a split identity that seems to have incubated a deadly sense of mission. PRAISE FOR MASHA GESSEN ‘Masha Gessen does something unexpected … In a book about Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and their role in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, she barely describes the crime … Still, if such an approach seems counterintuitive, that’s the power of this remarkable book’ The Los Angeles Times ‘This tale of immigrant ambition gone wrong is well told by the Russian-American journalist Masha Gessen … The backstory of family dysfunction and dislocation stretching back to Stalin makes this an important work on the psychology of sectarian violence.’ The Times Literary Supplement

Stát nás ochrání. Dokud nás nezačne ohrožovat. Když se v roce 2016 stal vítězem amerických prezidentských voleb Donald Trump, spousta Američanů i lidí po celém světě se uklidňovala odolností amerického systému a stabilitou jeho institucí. Do čela světové velmoci se možná dostal narcistní psychopat — demokracie však nestojí na osobnostech, nýbrž na pevném systému brzd a protivah, nezávislých úřadů a institucí s dlouhou a váženou tradicí, tradovalo se mezi západními novináři a komentátory. Jako jedna z mála kritizovala tento přístup Masha Gessen. Léta strávená v Rusku i psaním o vládě Vladimira Putina jí napovídala, že přerod demokracie v autokracii může být snazší a rychlejší, než by se mohlo zdát. Z jejího eseje „Autocracy: Rules for Survival“ (Autokracie: pravidla přežití) se proto krátce po Trumpově vítězství stal jeden z nejsdílenějších a nejcitovanějších článků. Kniha Přežít autokracii však není pouhým knižním rozpracováním původního eseje či další položkou v dlouhém výčtu Trumpových skandálů a překračování demokratických mantinelů. Gessen zasazuje zkušenosti s vládou a kroky Donalda Trumpa z posledních čtyř let do širšího politického rámce a srovnává je s podobným vývojem v Rusku či Maďarsku. Demokracie je křehčí, než se může zdát. ––– Když Gessen mluví o autokracii, tak raději poslouchejte. — The New York Times Když se v roce 2016 zjevil Trump […], mnozí z nás uklidňovali sami sebe i ostatní, že americké instituce jsou pevnější než kterýkoli kandidát, ba dokonce prezident. Avšak po volbách toto ujišťování vyznívalo naprázdno. Varovala jsem čtenáře: „Instituce vás neochrání.“ Vycházela jsem ze zkušeností při psaní reportáží o Rusku, Maďarsku a Izraeli — tří zemí, které se od Spojených států sice velmi liší, a zároveň je každá jiná. Nicméně jejich instituce se zhroutily nápadně podobným způsobem. Nemohla jsem tušit, jestli obdobně selžou rovněž ty americké, ale věděla jsem dost na to, abych mohla prohlásit, že absolutní víra v instituce není na místě. — Ukázka z knihy

La fascinante historia de cómo Vladímir Putin, un agente mediocre del KGB, llegó a la presidencia de Rusia, deshizo años de avances y convirtió a su país de nuevo en una amenaza para sus ciudadanos y para el mundo. Desde su llegada al poder en 1999, Vladímir Putin se ha hecho con el control de los medios de comunicación, sus rivales políticos han acabado encarcelados, exiliados o muertos, y el frágil sistema electoral ruso apenas se sostiene. Pese a las valientes manifestaciones de protesta por el fraude en las elecciones de diciembre de 2011, Putin continuó en el poder y Rusia volvió a ser una amenaza para sus ciudadanos y para el mundo entero. Masha Gessen ha vivido esta historia de primera mano, con las amenazas, el asesinato, el exilio y las misteriosas desapariciones de muchos de sus amigos y colegas. A pesar de ello, volvió a Moscú para contar el asombroso ascenso de Putin, tras conversar con fuentes que nunca habrían hablado con periodistas. Su relato de cómo un hombre anónimo se abrió camino hasta alcanzar un poder absoluto, y absolutamente corrupto, es ya un clásico de la narrativa de no ficción. ENGLISH DESCRIPTION National Book Award winner Masha Gessen''s biography of a ruthless man''s ascent to near-absolute power. “In a country where journalists critical of the government have a way of meeting untimely deaths, Gessen has shown remarkable courage in researching and writing this unflinching indictment of the most powerful man in Russia.” —The Wall Street Journal “Thanks to fearless reporting and acute psychological insights, Masha Gessen has done the impossible in writing a highly readable, compelling life of Russia''s mysterious president-for-life.” –Tina Brown, The Daily Beast The Man Without a Face is the chilling account of how a low-level, small-minded KGB operative ascended to the Russian presidency and, in an astonishingly short time, destroyed years of progress and made his country once more a threat to his own people and to the world. Handpicked as a successor by the "family" surrounding an ailing and increasingly unpopular Boris Yeltsin, Vladimir Putin seemed like a perfect choice for the oligarchy to shape according to its own designs. Suddenly the boy who had stood in the shadows, dreaming of ruling the world, was a public figure, and his popularity soared. Russia and an infatuated West were determined to see the progressive leader of their dreams, even as he seized control of media, sent political rivals and critics into exile or to the grave, and smashed the country''s fragile electoral system, concentrating power in the hands of his cronies. As a journalist living in Moscow, Masha Gessen experienced this history firsthand, and for The Man Without a Face has drawn on information and sources no other writer has tapped. This account of how a "faceless" man maneuvered his way into absolute—and absolutely corrupt—power is the definitive biography of Vladimir Putin.

Em uma reportagem reveladora, Masha Gessen faz um retrato implacável da ascensão de Vladimir Putin ao poder quase absoluto O homem sem rosto é o relato aterrorizante de como um agente mesquinho do baixo escalão da KGB ascendeu à presidência da Rússia e, em um tempo surpreendentemente curto, foi capaz de destruir anos de progresso, transformando o país em uma grave ameaça não só para seus próprios cidadãos, mas também para o mundo, a liberdade e a democracia. Em 1999, parecia não haver ninguém para governar a Rússia. Com a saúde de Boris Yeltsin cada vez mais debilitada e a queda de sua popularidade, a escolha do desconhecido Vladimir Putin como sucessor do então presidente parecia perfeita para a oligarquia russa: poderiam moldá-lo em benefício da própria agenda. Com ajuda dos corruptos apoiadores de Yeltsin, Putin — um jovem que até então vivera nas sombras, sonhando em governar o planeta — de repente se torna uma figura pública e sua popularidade dispara. A Rússia e o Ocidente pareciam cegos, determinados a ver nele o líder progressista de seus sonhos, mesmo quando, já no poder, Putin assume o controle da mídia nacional, perpetrando crimes e assassinatos contra rivais e críticos políticos, e destrói o frágil sistema eleitoral do país, concentrando o poder nas mãos de seus comparsas. Masha Gessen conta em primeira mão todos os detalhes e nuances dessa complexa história, e, nesta nova edição, com prefácio inédito, situa o livro no momento atual da Rússia — de repressão e agressão a entidades internacionais. Certamente, um livro que se consolida como um clássico da não ficção narrativa.

Durante las últimas décadas hemos asistido a la muerte de una democracia que nunca llegó a serlo. Los ciudadanos rusos han estado perdiendo derechos y libertades y, desde 2012, han sufrido una represión política abierta. Mientras, en el exterior, Rusia se embarcaba en nuevos conflictos. ¿Cómo ha ocurrido esto? ¿Qué ha pasado desde que se desplomó la URSS? Para reconstruir la Rusia actual Masha Gessen se centra en las historias concretas de las personas para quienes el fin de la URSS fue el primero o uno de sus primeros recuerdos: los rusos nacidos en la década de 1980. Una generación que ha pasado toda su vida adulta en la Rusia de Vladimir Putin, y que ha visto como su país viraba de la apertura al repliegue, del diálogo con Occidente a la hostilidad. El resultado es un retrato fidedigno de la Rusia que los occidentales no alcanzan a ver, y que los rusos no pueden estudiar sin sufrir las consecuencias.

En 1999, l’entourage de Boris Eltsine lui cherche un successeur. Pourquoi pas un ancien agent du KGB sans envergure, Vladimir Poutine, parfaite marionnette ? Mais voilà que, dès son arrivée au pouvoir, le jeune et terne réformateur démocrate imaginé par les oligarques et rêvé par l’Occident révèle sa vraie nature : celle d’un ancien truand devenu le parrain d’un clan mafieux qui met la Russie en coupe réglée, étouffant toute forme de contestation par la violence et la terreur. Masha Gessen livre ici une enquête journalistique indépendante sans précédent, fondée sur des témoignages et des documents inédits. En prenant des risques réels – et faisant d’ailleurs l’objet de menaces et d’intimidations, comme tous ceux et celles qui font entendre une voix dissonante dans la Russie de Poutine – son objectif est de dévoiler dans ce document unique la face obscure de l’« homme sans visage ». Cette nouvelle édition est augmentée d’un avant-propos inédit sur l’invasion de l’Ukraine au printemps 2022. « Une enquête lumineuse... Gessen a écrit un livre courageux qui démolit les mythes et les légendes construites autour du personnage. » The Guardian

Nicht nur Russland, Ungarn oder die Türkei sind autokratische Staaten. In den USA werden täglich demokratische Prozesse missachtet, korrodieren Rechtsystem und kulturelle Normen, verfallen Bürger dem Versprechen radikaler Einfachheit, der Aufteilung der Welt in »Us« und »Them«. Vor dem Hintergrund einer im postsowjetischen Russland verbrachten Jugend beschreibt Masha Gessen das Versagen von Institutionen, Medien und Opposition und das Ende der Würde in der US-amerikanischen Politik. Das Buch ist eine messerscharfe und schonungslose Analyse, wie Autokratien entstehen, eine Anleitung zum Widerstand – und ein Handbuch für den Wiederaufbau der Zivilgesellschaft in einem Land, das auch nach einer Abwahl Trumps nicht zur Tagesordnung übergehen kann. Masha Gessen erhält 2023 den Hannah-Arendt-Preis für politisches Denken. »Kaum jemand hat die subversive Kraft antidemokratischer und autoritärer Ideologien und Regime so präzise analysiert wie Masha Gessen.« Carolin Emcke. »Eine unverzichtbare Stimme in der heutigen Zeit.« Timothy Snyder, Autor von »Über Tyrannei. 20 Lektionen für den Widerstand«. »Masha Gessens Überlegungen zu den weltweit grassierenden autokratischen Regierungsformen sollten Pflichtlektüre für jeden denkenden Menschen sein.« Daniel Schreiber.

Eran las elecciones de 2016 y el discurso, los gestos y los comentarios de uno de los candidatos a la presidencia de Estados Unidos no tenían precedente alguno. Cuarenta y ocho horas antes de que Donald Trump fuese elegido como presidente de Estados Unidos, el ensayo "Autocracia: reglas para la supervivencia", de Masha Gessen, se volvió viral. Hoy ese ensayo, ampliado y matizado, es este libro. Gessen aporta aquí una perspectiva inigualable, herencia de su infancia soviética y de más de dos décadas de testimoniar el totalitarismo ruso. Todo ello le otorga una cosmovisión única a la hora de analizar las líneas que delimitan la autocracia galopante que vive hoy Estados Unidos. Este libro, polémico e incisivo, analiza cómo esta organización política atraviesa todos los ámbitos (el mediático, el cultural, el judicial...) y termina por afectar a toda una sociedad, abocada a sobrevivir a las órdenes de un único individuo. "El ideal platónico del trumpiano libro anti-; Trump", Carlos Lozada, The Washington Post

Efter att ha kommit till makten som premiärminister och därefter president i Ryssland 1999 har Vladimir Putin gradvis utmanövrerat och eliminerat sina politiska rivaler. Han har nedmonterat landets sköra demokrati, inte minst genom sitt järnhårda grepp om medierna. Som verksam i Ryssland har den rysk-amerikanska journalisten Masha Gessen själv upplevt denna förändring och fått bevittna hur flera av hennes vänner och kolleger trakasserats och försvunnit under oklara omständigheter. Hon företräder den generation som satsade allt på frihetens och demokratins väg för Ryssland efter Sovjetunionens fall. I dag hör hon till dem som går i främsta ledet i demonstrationerna mot valfusk och vanstyre. Mannen utan ansikte är en sensationell, modig och upprörande berättelse om Putins väg till makten. Den ger en unik och initierad bild av en skrupelfri och manipulerande ledare för ett av världens största och mäktigaste länder. Ur bokens förord av Stig Fredrikson: "Masha Gessen beskriver Rysslands moderna historia inifrån. Hon är en journalist som varit med själv. Hon har upplevt och rapporterat om alla de viktigaste händelserna i Ryssland de senaste tjugo åren som korrespondent för amerikanska och ryska tidskrifter. Dessutom bygger boken på en omfattande och imponerande research. Den är ett stycke klassisk undersökande journalistik, och Masha Gessen har delvis haft tillgång till källor som inte har berättat tidigare. Det gör boken mer övertygande, och skrämmande. Att hon har fått vissa nyckelpersoner att ställa upp och framträda med namn, i stället för att citera anonyma källor, stärker i hög grad hennes framställning. Masha Gessen är medveten om att innehållet i boken är politisk dynamit. Hon vet också att hon i fortsättningen förmodligen riskerar sin personliga säkerhet. Spåren förskräcker. Av alla Putinböckerna i min bokhylla är det fram till nu en som har stuckit ut: den som Anna Politkovskaja skrev om "Putins Ryssland". Nu kommer Masha Gessens bok att stå bredvid Politkovskajas, med hopp om att hon inte ska behöva dela hennes öde."

Marile transformări sociale, economice și culturale prin care a trecut Rusia în ultimele decenii se reflectă aici nu doar la nivel general, ci și la unul individual într-un fel în care ne face să înțelegem în profunzime ce se petrece nu departe de noi. Destinele a patru oameni născuți în ultimii ani ai comunismului se împletesc cu ale unor personaje-cheie din istoria recentă a țării, precum Aleksei Navalnîi sau Boris Nemțov. Deși, în urma discuțiilor și a interviurilor cu aceștia, Masha Gessen a ajuns să le afle cele mai nuanțate trăiri, nimic în această carte nu este romanțat sau privit din perspectiva subiectivă a autoarei. Și totuși faptele relatate au un impact emoțional puternic asupra cititorului.

Fesselnd wie ein Gesellschaftsroman schreibt Bestsellerautorin Masha Gessen, warum ein Land, das in einem ungeheuren Kraftakt seine lähmenden Machtstrukturen abschütteln konnte, zu einem autoritär geführten Staat mit neoimperialen Zügen geworden ist. Eine Gesellschaft, die zu Emanzipation, Freiheit und Selbsterkenntnis aufgebrochen war, leidet heute unter Bevormundung und Repression. Wie konnte es dazu kommen? Im Zentrum stehen vier Menschen der Generation 1984. Sie kamen in die Schule, als die Sowjetunion zerfiel, und wurden unter Präsident Putin erwachsen. Junge Leute aus unterschiedlichen sozialen und familiären Verhältnissen: zum Beispiel Zhanna, deren Vater Boris Nemzow, ein prominenter Reformer, mitten in Moskau erschossen wurde. Oder Ljoscha, der als schwuler Dozent seine Stelle an der Uni Perm verliert. Die große Erzählung von Aufbrüchen und gescheiterten Hoffnungen der Jungen wird flankiert von den Bildungsgeschichten des liberalen Soziologen Lew Gudkow, der Psychoanalytikerin Marina Arutjunjan und des rechtsnationalistischen Philosophen Alexander Dugin.

Redan 48 timmar efter att Trump segrat i det amerikanska valet 2016 hade Masha Gessens essä Autocracy: Rules for Survival blivit viral och lästes och diskuterades av alla som försökte förstå vad som just hade hänt. Som rysk-amerikanska och verksam som journalist i Ryssland i många år, har Masha Gessen utvecklat närmast ett sjätte sinne för tecken på envälde. Tecken som hon menar är otvetydiga i Trumps Amerika. I Att överleva envälde skildrar Gessen den katastrofala väg landet slagit in på, inte bara på grund av mediernas alltmer kringskurna roll, eller det hotade rättsväsendet. Hon beskriver också ett land som på bara några år har förändrats på djupet. Med sin bok vill hon ge en bild av vad som inträffat i Amerika med Trump och tidigare i hemlandet Ryssland med Putin. Men hon vill också uppmana oss i andra länder att vara uppmärksamma på och stå emot det som snabbt kan drabba ett demokratiskt samhälle och göra det innan det är för sent.

Migration ist eines der bestimmenden Themen unserer Zeit. Kein Tag vergeht, an dem im Fernsehen oder in den sozialen Medien nicht über Flüchtlinge, Fluchtursachen oder Flüchtlingshilfe diskutiert würde. Häufig gerät dabei in den Hintergrund, welche Konsequenzen Begriffe und Ausdrucksweisen haben. Zu oft bringt schon unsere Sprache die Betroffenen zum Schweigen, etwa wenn aus Menschen »Asylanten«, »Fremde« oder in den Worten von US-Präsident Trump: »Illegale« werden. In dem Versuch, jenen, die ihre »Sprache verloren« haben (Hannah Arendt), eine Stimme zu leihen, erzählt Masha Gessen Geschichten der Migration. Gessen berichtet von Menschenrechtsaktivisten aus Russland, Homosexuellen aus dem Iran – und aus der eigenen Familiengeschichte. Die Porträts fügen sich zu einem beeindruckenden Plädoyer für die menschliche Würde.

«Ο άνθρωπος δίχως πρόσωπο» είναι η ανατριχιαστική εξιστόρηση της διαδικασίας μέσα από την οποία ένας χαμηλόβαθμος πράκτορας της KGB αναρριχήθηκε στην προεδρία της Ρωσίας.Το 1999, η «Οικογένεια» που περιέβαλλε τον Μπορίς Γέλτσιν άρχισε να ψάχνει διάδοχο για τον ασθενούντα πρόεδρο, η δημοτικότητα του οποίου συνεχώς έφθινε. Ο Βλαντίμιρ Πούτιν, με ελάχιστη κυβερνητική και διοικητική εμπειρία πέρα από τη θητεία του ως αντιδημάρχου της Αγίας Πετρούπολης και ένα σύντομο διάστημα στη θέση του διευθυντή της μυστικής αστυνομίας, έμοιαζε ωστόσο η τέλεια λύση: ένα «απρόσωπο» πλάσμα που ο Γέλτσιν και οι στενοί του φίλοι πίστευαν πως μπορούσαν να διαμορφώσουν κατ’ εικόνα τους. Ξαφνικά το αγόρι που είχε μεγαλώσει στις σχολικές αυλές του μεταπολεμικού Λένινγκραντ παίζοντας ξύλο και κάνοντας όνειρα να κυβερνήσει τον κόσμο έγινε δημόσιο πρόσωπο και η δημοτικότητά του εκτοξεύτηκε στα ύψη. Η Ρωσία και μια ξελογιασμένη Δύση ήταν αποφασισμένες να βλέπουν τον προοδευτικό ηγέτη των ονείρων τους, ακόμα και όταν, με ανελέητη αποτελεσματικότητα, ο Πούτιν ξήλωνε τα μέσα ενημέρωσης της χώρας, αποσπούσε διά της βίας από την ανθούσα επιχειρηματική τάξη τον έλεγχο και τα πλούτη της και αποδεκάτιζε τους εύθραυστους μηχανισμούς της δημοκρατίας. Μέσα σε ελάχιστα χρόνια, ουσιαστικά κάθε εμπόδιο για την αχαλίνωτη κυριαρχία του απομακρύνθηκε και κάθε αντίθετη φωνή φιμώθηκε, με τους πολιτικούς αντιπάλους και τους επικριτές να οδηγούνται στην εξορία ή στον τάφο.Ως δημοσιογράφος που ζει στη Μόσχα, η Μάσα Γκέσεν βίωσε από πρώτο χέρι αυτή την ιστορία και για το βιβλίο της χρησιμοποίησε στοιχεία και πηγές που κανένας άλλος συγγραφέας δεν έχει αξιοποιήσει. Η εξιστόρηση του τρόπου με τον οποίο ένας «απρόσωπος» άνθρωπος ελίχτηκε για να φτάσει στην απόλυτη –και απόλυτα διεφθαρμένη– εξουσία διαθέτει όλα τα χαρακτηριστικά ενός κλασικού μη λογοτεχνικού πεζογραφήματος. Μια μοναδική βιογραφία, που κυκλοφορεί στα ελληνικά ταυτόχρονα με την πρωτότυπη αγγλική έκδοση. «Καθαρό και γενναίο...» James Meek, The Observer «Κάθε άνθρωπος που διαβάζει εφημερίδα θα ’πρεπε να διαβάσει το βιβλίο αυτό. Και θα το διαβάσει σαν το πιο δυνατό θρίλερ: ξέπνοος και ανήμπορος, δεν θα το αφήσει από τα χέρια του μέχρι το τελος».Berliner Zeitung «H Gessen μεταφέρει την ατμόσφαιρα καλύτερα από οποιονδήποτε». The Independent «Ένα συναρπαστικό και πλήρες πορτρέτο ενός ανθρώπου που, χωρίς να αφήσει ίχνη, έγινε από κατώτερος πράκτορας της KGB o “νονός της ρωσικής μαφίας”». The Telegraph Magazine

1999 yılında, Boris Yeltsin’in etrafını çevreleyen “Aile”, sağlığı kötüye giden ve gitgide popülaritesini kaybeden devlet başkanına bir halef aramaya koyuldu. Hükümet kademelerinde ya da idarede çok az tecrübesi olan Putin –geçmişte sadece St. Petersburg Belediye Başkan Yardımcılığı ve kısa süreliğine gizli polis direktörlüğü yapmıştı– yine de mükemmel bir seçenek olarak öne çıkıyordu: Yeltsin ve arkadaşlarının kendi suretlerinde yoğurabilecekleri “yüzü olmayan” bir canlı. Putin’e karasevdayla bağlanan Batı ve Rusya, çiçeği burnunda devlet başkanında rüyalarının ilerici liderini görmekte kararlıydı – hatta Putin o merhametsiz iş bitiriciliği ile ülkenin medyasını hallaç pamuğu gibi atar, işadamlarının elindeki güç ve zenginliği çekip alır ve demokrasinin kırılgan mekanizmalarını paramparça ederken bile… Birkaç yıl içerisinde, Putin’in sahip olmak istediği mutlak iktidarın önündeki her türlü engel kaldırılmış, muhalif sesler susturulmuş, siyasi rakipler ya sürgüne ya da mezara gönderilmişti. Bu tarihi dönemi ilk elden tecrübe etmiş bir gazeteci olan MashaGessen, hikâyeyi şu anki huzursuzluk ve belirsizlik dönemine kadar getirip önümüze koyuyor. Putin’in yükseliş ve iktidar dönemine dair büyüleyici anlatımı, bu alanda bir klasik olmaya aday.

Im Jahr 2000 wurde eine Liste mit sieben Rätseln der Mathematik veröffentlicht, mit einem Preisgeld von jeweils einer Million US-Dollar. Eines dieser berühmten »Millennium-Probleme« war der Beweis der Poincaré-Vermutung, an dem sich bereits die klügsten Köpfe die Zähne ausgebissen hatten. 2002 wurde der Beweis erbracht – von Grigori Jakowlewitsch »Grischa« Perelman, einem exzentrischen russisch-jüdischen Mathematiker. Aber Perelman lehnte ab – nicht nur das Geld, sondern zunehmend auch die Welt. Heute lebt er ohne Festanstellung und völlig zurückgezogen bei seiner Mutter in St. Petersburg. Warum war gerade er in der Lage, das Problem zu lösen – und was ist danach mit ihm geschehen? Masha Gessen begibt sich auf Perelmans Spuren, von seinen Anfängen als Wunderkind bis zu seinem Rückzug. Nach und nach entsteht das Bild eines Mannes, dessen fast übermenschliche gedankliche Strenge ihn zu mathematischen Höchstleistungen befähigt, aber auch immer stärker von der Welt entfremdet.

Här tecknar den prisbelönta journalisten Masha Gessen ett skrämmande porträtt av ett Ryssland som inom loppet av en generation återskapat en totalitär stat. Putin har demonterat valsystemet, tagit kontroll över ekonomin, medierna och den lagstiftande makten. Hur ska vi förstå Vladimir Putin och det nya Ryssland vi ser växa fram? Ett Ryssland som ser sig själv som beskyddare av traditionella värden i opposition till västs falska idéer om mänskliga rättigheter. Masha Gessen följer fyra personers liv, kamp, drömmar och förluster i den nya statens framväxt. De är entreprenörer, författare, aktivister och tänkare och de föddes under den period som skulle bli demokratins början i Ryssland. Nu tvingas de istället se hur den forna Sovjetunionens ordning återinförs och hur deras land utvecklats till den till synes ostoppbara maffiastat vi ser idag.

Em 21 de fevereiro de 2012, cinco moças entraram na Catedral do Cristo Salvador, em Moscou. Usando vestidos, leggings e balaclavas de cores vivas, elas apresentaram uma "oração punk", suplicando à "Mãe de Deus" para "livrá-las de Pútin". Foram rapidamente interrompidas pela segurança do local, e, nas semanas e meses que se seguiram, três delas foram presas e julgadas, sendo que duas foram enviadas a colônias penais em locais remotos. No entanto, o incidente foi estampado em manchetes internacionais e seus vídeos se tornaram virais. Pessoas do mundo inteiro reconheceram não apenas a ferocidade de um ato de confrontação política, mas também uma inspirada obra de arte que, em um momento e local repletos de mentiras, encontrara uma nova maneira de manifestar a verdade. O fascinante relato de Masha Gessen conta como esse fenômeno aconteceu. Com base em seu amplo e exclusivo acesso às integrantes de Pussy Riot, suas famílias e colegas, a autora reconstruiu as fascinantes jornadas pessoais que transformaram um grupo de moças em artistas com um ideal em comum, deram a elas coragem e imaginação para expressá-lo de maneira inesquecível e dotaram-nas de força para suportar a solidão e o isolamento devastadores que têm sido o preço de seu triunfo.

Wladimir Putin hat mit Hilfe einer kleinen, aber mächtigen Gruppe des russischen Geheimdienstes KGB, alten kommunistischen Potentaten und neureichen Oligarchen eines der größten Länder der Erde in eine Diktatur zurückverwandelt. Masha Gessen entlarvt den unscheinbaren Mann ohne Gesicht als das, was er wirklich ist: ein skrupelloser Machthaber, umgeben von Korruption und Terror.

A series of moving narratives that capture the lives and loves of LGBT Russians living both in their home country and in exile today. Comprised of firsthand accounts, reportage and interviews, this book is a provocative riposte to Russia''s recently passed and ill-defined ban on "homosexual propaganda." Gay Propaganda brings together original stories, interviews and testimonial, presented in both English and Russian, to capture the lives and loves of LGBT Russians living both in Russia and in exile. The book is a provocative riposte to Russia''s recently passed and ill-defined ban on "homosexual propaganda." As part of a strategy to consolidate political control in Russia following massive pro-democracy protests that shook the government, President Putin''s ruling party looked for an enemy to unite the country. Hoping to manipulate backward but widely-held prejudices, it opted to demonize gays and lesbians. A bill was signed by Putin banning "propaganda" of so-called non-traditional relationships. Subsequently, and quite predictably, attacks, firings, and hate crimes spiked across Russia. The accounts gathered in Gay Propaganda offer a timely and intimate window into the hardships faced by Russians on the receiving end of state-sanctioned homophobia. Here are tales of men and women in long-term committed relationships as well as those still looking for love; of those trying to raise kids or taking care of parents; of those facing the challenges of continuing to live in Russia or joining an exodus that is rapidly becoming a flood.