This book appeared in many recommendation lists in 2025. I finally read it after my wife finished it. Navalny’s memoir is split in three parts. In the first part he describes growing up in Russia in the 80s/90s. In the second part he describes how he begins his investigations into corruption among the Russian political and business elite and the third part is written during his time in prison.

It’s interesting how he experienced the fall of the USSR in the 90s and how he explains the hope in his community that a new and open Russia could deliver the same prosperity to its population as The West. He illustrates how the prevailing system of corruption is able to divert the huge income from natural resources and former government companies away from the population and into the accounts of a few well-connected business men, their families, and shell companies. After Navalny is first poisoned and then, upon return to Russia, imprisoned, the book style changes to diary form. He is detailing his daily live in different Russian prisons until his death in February 2024 ( poisoned with epibatidine   ). Reading the diary entries, I was impressed how stoic he endured his situation in prison (lack of food, lack of mind stimulation, erratic and arbitrary rules to follow) and how he maintained a positive mindset about his situation and even the future of Russia.