Patriot: A Memoir

Mon, 30 Mar 2026 20:00:00 +0000

Author: Alexei Navalny Rating: 4/5 Finished: March 30, 2026

This book appeared in many recommendation lists in 2025. I finally read it after my wife finished it. Navalny’s memoir is split into 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 businessmen, 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 life in different Russian prisons until his death in February 2024 ( poisoned with epibatidine ). Reading the diary entries, I was impressed how stoically 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.

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln

Sat, 19 Apr 2025 20:00:00 +0000

Author: Doris Kearns Goodwin Rating: 5/5 Finished: April 19, 2025

As a European I only have surface level knowledge of American history. I learned about it for a semester in high school and watched the movie Lincoln . So I did have a sense of Abraham Lincoln’s role in the civil war and in abolishing slavery.

This book gave me a much deeper insight into the political struggle to end slavery and how Abraham Lincoln managed to balance competing factions in his own cabinet, in parliament, and in the country.

Abraham Lincoln won the presidency to the surprise of most observers at the time. He carefully positioned himself as a down-to-earth, quirky character in just the right political niche to get support from the different political groups when they realised that their favourite candidate wouldn’t be able to get a majority. After he won the presidential election in 1860 he did something unusual. He installed some of his opponents from the presidential race into key positions of his cabinet (this is where the book title comes from).

The first part of the book is about him gaining the respect of his contemporaries that underestimated him for a long time. It’s also about his clever interactions with the key characters in the cabinet to keep them aligned and utilise their individual strengths.

The second part of the book goes deeper into his role during the civil war where he has to make difficult military decisions, like firing generals, and keeping the Confederacy internationally isolated. While at the same time waiting for just the right moment when public sentiment was ready to support the abolishment of slavery.

I learned a lot about political decision making and balancing power.

Politics on staticnotes.org

Patriot: A Memoir

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln