Between Prison and Freedom
Memoir of a Soviet Dissident
Published on 1. August 2025
Book
Hardback
448 pages
978-0-268-20965-0 (ISBN)
Description
This thrilling memoir documents the early life of Russian journalist and human rights activist Alexander Podrabinek as he and other dissidents fearlessly fought against the Soviet Union.
Between Prison and Freedom chronicles Alexander Podrabinek's deeply personal recollections of his early life fearlessly opposing the injustices of the Soviet Union. He vividly describes his turbulent journey from silently protesting at Pushkin Square as a teenager to his exile in a brutal prison camp for publishing Punitive Medicine. Between Prison and Freedom is a powerful tribute to the Russian dissidents, desperately loyal to their country and to each other, as they fought for freedom and justice, all while cunningly evading the KGB's nearly successful efforts to break-or kill-them.
Through his personal experiences, the dissident reality unfolds as an onslaught of surveillance and false accusations, corrective labor camps and exile, and a consistent disregard for basic human freedoms. In this captivating story about standing against tyranny, Podrabinek captures the spirit of the dissident movement, the painful intersections between personal and political in a dissident's life, and the solidarity that kept the resistance moving forward.
Between Prison and Freedom chronicles Alexander Podrabinek's deeply personal recollections of his early life fearlessly opposing the injustices of the Soviet Union. He vividly describes his turbulent journey from silently protesting at Pushkin Square as a teenager to his exile in a brutal prison camp for publishing Punitive Medicine. Between Prison and Freedom is a powerful tribute to the Russian dissidents, desperately loyal to their country and to each other, as they fought for freedom and justice, all while cunningly evading the KGB's nearly successful efforts to break-or kill-them.
Through his personal experiences, the dissident reality unfolds as an onslaught of surveillance and false accusations, corrective labor camps and exile, and a consistent disregard for basic human freedoms. In this captivating story about standing against tyranny, Podrabinek captures the spirit of the dissident movement, the painful intersections between personal and political in a dissident's life, and the solidarity that kept the resistance moving forward.
Reviews / Votes
"No one is more qualified than Alexander Podrabinek to explain how the dissident movement functioned and what repressive measures the Soviet regime took to suppress it." -Mark G. Pomar, author of Cold War Radio"A gripping and honest story of a man who challenged the totalitarian system, and when faced with the choice between his own well-being and his sense of civic dignity, chose in favor of the latter. His story serves as an important reminder that the path to democracy lies in each individual's awareness of responsibility for the society in which he or she lives and the willingness to accept that responsibility, whatever the cost." -Maxim Krupskiy, University of Illinois College of Law
"Alexander Podrabinek was one of the most courageous young men in the Soviet Union. He refused to accept injustice and was imprisoned for his book about the persecution of dissidents. In his fascinating memoirs, he tells how one can be a free man and resist even in the most ruthless, lawless society." -Dmitry Volchek, correspondent for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
"This self-portrait of a dissident who took on one of the darkest aspects of Soviet repression is more than a profile in courage; it's a colorful, often funny read that keeps the pages turning. With neo-Soviet authoritarianism again choking Russia and now also posing an existential threat to Western liberal democracy, Alexander Podrabinek's account of his activism and imprisonment couldn't be more timely." -Gregory Feifer, author of Russians, former NPR Moscow bureau chief
"Between Prison and Freedom is the story of Alexander Podrabinek's quiet, dogged resistance to the repressive Soviet system and the people he met along the way-not just fellow dissidents and prison inmates, but doctors, snitches, landlords, Western journalists, and KGB operatives. We are lucky that his translator is Marian Schwartz, who makes this alien world of Soviet life and prison camps accessible and lets the author's humanity, tenacity, and unshakable sense of humor shine through." -Michele A. Berdy, contributing editor for the Moscow Times
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Notre Dame IN
United States
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 232 mm
Width: 162 mm
Thickness: 34 mm
Weight
871 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-268-20965-0 (9780268209650)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Alexander Podrabinek is a Russian journalist, dissident, human rights activist, and commentator. He is the author of Punitive Medicine, which details the Soviet Union's use of psychiatric hospitals against political prisoners. He remains an active writer and commentator covering Russian political and social affairs.
Marian Schwartz is a prizewinning translator of Russian fiction and nonfiction, including works by Nina Berberova, Leo Tolstoy, Mikhail Shishkin, and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.
David Satter is an American journalist and historian who writes about Russia and the Soviet Union. He has authored books and articles about the decline and fall of the Soviet Union and the rise of post-Soviet Russia.
Marian Schwartz is a prizewinning translator of Russian fiction and nonfiction, including works by Nina Berberova, Leo Tolstoy, Mikhail Shishkin, and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.
David Satter is an American journalist and historian who writes about Russia and the Soviet Union. He has authored books and articles about the decline and fall of the Soviet Union and the rise of post-Soviet Russia.
Content
Part 1.
1. How to Quit Smoking and Start Writing Your Memoirs
2. Childhood
3. Pushkin Square
4. Elektrostal
5. Moscow
6. A Man of Freedom
7.The Moscow Day-to-Day
8. Three Comrades
9. Ladies from the Last Century
10. The Writing Itch
11. Impatience
12. From Illusions to Reality
13. Psychiatry: First Steps
14. Do You Recognize Your Brother Sasha?"
15. 1977. Tallin. New Year's
16. The Belyaevsky Triangle
17. Our Answer to Chamberlain
18. Journey to Siberia
19. The Empire Strikes Back
20. West--East
21. Cherchez la femme
22. Dress Rehearsal
23. Farewell to Arms!
24. The Art of the Interrogation
25. Correspondents and Diplomats
26. "Ambulance"
27. In the KGB's Cross-Hairs
28. No One Wanted to Leave
29. "Tailed"
30. First Test
31. Hostages
32. Moment of Weakness
33. Our Man in the KGB
34. The Working Commission
35. My Last Few Days
Part 2.
36. Matrosskaya Tishina
37. Young Children
38. Investigation Trial
39. Krasnaya Presnya
40. Long-Distance Journey
41. Chuna
42. Barmakon
43. Honeymoon
44. The Pole of Cold
45. Yakutia Prison
46. Death Row
47. Idiotic Investigation
48. Eros Watches/Wide-Awake
49. Difficulties of Legal/Judicial Proceedings
50. Once Again, a Trial
51. Bolshaya Markha
52. Labor Is a Matter of Honor, Courage, and Heroism
53. A Prison Within a Prison
54. Criminals
55. "Only on the Green"
56. Rock-busting
57. Solitude Hunger
58. Cold Dreams
59. Another Moment of Weakness
60. Stooges
61. Tuberculosis
62. The Infirmary
63. Driven from Paradise
64. Pleasant Prison Camp Life
65. Final Round
66. Ode to the Quilted Vest/Jacket
67. Tempted by Freedom
1. How to Quit Smoking and Start Writing Your Memoirs
2. Childhood
3. Pushkin Square
4. Elektrostal
5. Moscow
6. A Man of Freedom
7.The Moscow Day-to-Day
8. Three Comrades
9. Ladies from the Last Century
10. The Writing Itch
11. Impatience
12. From Illusions to Reality
13. Psychiatry: First Steps
14. Do You Recognize Your Brother Sasha?"
15. 1977. Tallin. New Year's
16. The Belyaevsky Triangle
17. Our Answer to Chamberlain
18. Journey to Siberia
19. The Empire Strikes Back
20. West--East
21. Cherchez la femme
22. Dress Rehearsal
23. Farewell to Arms!
24. The Art of the Interrogation
25. Correspondents and Diplomats
26. "Ambulance"
27. In the KGB's Cross-Hairs
28. No One Wanted to Leave
29. "Tailed"
30. First Test
31. Hostages
32. Moment of Weakness
33. Our Man in the KGB
34. The Working Commission
35. My Last Few Days
Part 2.
36. Matrosskaya Tishina
37. Young Children
38. Investigation Trial
39. Krasnaya Presnya
40. Long-Distance Journey
41. Chuna
42. Barmakon
43. Honeymoon
44. The Pole of Cold
45. Yakutia Prison
46. Death Row
47. Idiotic Investigation
48. Eros Watches/Wide-Awake
49. Difficulties of Legal/Judicial Proceedings
50. Once Again, a Trial
51. Bolshaya Markha
52. Labor Is a Matter of Honor, Courage, and Heroism
53. A Prison Within a Prison
54. Criminals
55. "Only on the Green"
56. Rock-busting
57. Solitude Hunger
58. Cold Dreams
59. Another Moment of Weakness
60. Stooges
61. Tuberculosis
62. The Infirmary
63. Driven from Paradise
64. Pleasant Prison Camp Life
65. Final Round
66. Ode to the Quilted Vest/Jacket
67. Tempted by Freedom