PATRIOT

Reviews / Votes

Charisma and courage still dazzle on every page. His voice is so vivid - fearless, playful, funny, clear-eyed - that while reading Patriot I kept finding myself forgetting he was dead -- Decca Aitkenhead * Sunday Times * Extraordinary ... The late Russian activist's memoir is an insightful, sharp, and even humorous account of the fight against Putin's regime - and a warning to the world ... A brave and brilliant book -- Luke Harding * Guardian *Book of the Day* * A worthy testament to the author's resistance to Putin and a heartbreaking account of Russia's collapse into war and repression ... [Patriot] is the best example left to us of Navalny's defiance, courage, humour, and love for a country he believed could become 'the beautiful Russia of the future' * Financial Times * Funny, fiery, reflective and tragic, laced with Navalny's trademark wry humour and idealism -- Alexandra Alter * New York Times * Inspiring, emboldening - a voice that will not be forgotten -- David Remnick * New Yorker * Powerful ... A brave, passionate and intimate read about everything from family to activism * i * Much has been written about the chilling realities of Putin's Russia. Yet... Alexei Navalny is in a class of its own... Unflinching, defiant and even hopeful, the book... [is] a shocking and extraordinary "memorial" -- Frederick Studemann * Financial Times, *Books of the Year* * Patriot, by the murdered Russian opposition leader, will be seen as a historic text ... Its value lies not in what it tells you about the cruelties of Mr Putin's regime, but in what it reveals about the human spirit * Economist * This book is a gospel ... impossible to stop reading ... [Navalny] is not going to be the political leader for future generations of Russians. But he might be the moral example - some kind of Russian messiah * Vanity Fair * Alexei Navalny never loses faith that his cause is worth suffering for ... [Patriot] is a testament to a famed dissident's extraordinary battle against despair as the Russian authorities gradually increase their crackdown against him * Independent * [A] gripping posthumous account of Navalny's long confrontation with Putin ... Compelling, impressive * Telegraph * Remarkable ... [Navalny] is the greatest political figure of his generation - the greatest president many Russians believe they never had ... Patriot is less a memorial than a handbook on how to stand up to a bully ... with humour and grace and without fear -- Carole Cadwalladr * Observer, *Book of the Week* * His only weapon words, Navalny skewers Putin's tyranny, corruption and lies, but even while inhumanly caged his humour, love of life and ultimate faith in humankind shine through * New Statesman, *Books of the Year* * [Patriot is] part memoir, part diary, is a political manifesto, a darkly funny adieu and a posthumous indictment of his murderers. But it is also a poignant paean to reading and the solace of the written word for a man deprived of freedom -- Ben Macintyre * The Times * Alexei Navalny was among the greatest, smartest, most charismatic and effective leaders that the Russian opposition has had ... Here we feel his bravery and great spirit -- Owen Matthews * The Times * One might expect a work by an anti-corruption activist and political prisoner ... to read like a righteous diatribe. It does not. Patriot reveals less about Navalny's politics than it does about his fundamental decency, his wry sense of humour and his (mostly) cheery stoicism under conditions that would flatten a lesser person -- David Kortova * New York Times * The memoir is a chance to commune with the mind of a dissident ... shocking ... As a I read, I grieved, not just for Navalny the man, but for the idea of a person like him * Atlantic * Patriot is a plea to keep resisting Putin ... Honest, full of penetrating wit and with a nice ear for mockery, [Navalny] wielded cheerfulness as a weapon and never lost faith that the right side must eventually prevail * Washington Post * Navalny writes with a fierce moral clarity ... direct, precise and, in the face of unimaginable isolation, mordantly funny * New Yorker * Patriot is revealing - and devastating. We all know Navalny's final chapter, which makes the descriptions of his treatment - and his courage in the face of it - even more poignant ... In the end, Patriot is also a love story about two people fully committed to a cause they believe in * BBC News * Reads like a crime thriller ... you devour line after line about all that was hidden from the world at the time * Die Welt am Morgen * He was unyielding, so they had to break him. But still, Navalny shouts with a voices that makes the foundations of the Kremlin tremble * NRK * The testimony of an exceptional person, who can be characterised as a cheerful superhero and humorously gifted martyr -- Kerstin Holm * Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung * [Patriot] is not only an autobiography, but also Navalny's last great reckoning with his enemy in the Kremlin * Tagesspiegel * A thoroughly political book - and at the same time it is a great love story -- Friedrich Schmidt and Reinhard Veser * Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung * I read ever word of the book. I could not put it down ... incredibly moving -- Rachel Maddow, in an interview with Yulia Navalnaya Moving ... it is fitting that the book, which was compiled under Yulia's supervision, is titled Patriot. In the end, it was Navalny's refusal to abandon his belief in the 'Beautiful Russia of the Future' that compelled him to return to his beloved country ... Alexei Navalny was the most credible opposition leader to emerge in Russia in decades, and his death is a devastating blow -- Katie Stallard * New Statesman * Like all tyrants, Putin cannot bear challenge, and even less mockery ... This memoir, completed as Alexei Navalny's testament, stands as a poignant vision of a possible better Russia -- Wendy Slater * Times Literary Supplement * Extraordinary ... Patriot offers insight into his hopes of a 'beautiful Russia of the future'. It also gives us a window into the oppressive grimness of life in prison. As the world faces an uncertain future, this book reminds us that there are still people willing to die for freedom * Evening Standard, Books of the Year 2024 * The most memorable political book of the year .... In Patriot: A Memoir, Alexei Navalny left us an exhilarating read -- Lloyd Green * Guardian *