Patriot: A Memoir

Amid a backdrop of Russian politics and Nalvany's experience as a political prisoner is a book of faith, family, and what it takes to stand up for your beliefs. Amazing. Buy it. Gift it. This book will make you want to laugh and cry... and be a better human.

Alexei Navalny was such a brave young man, I had to read about him. I'm tearing up right now because of what happened to him. May he rest in peace.

Navalny was a great modern-day hero. His courage and spirit should be an example to all of us. Instead of depressing, this book is uplifting!

Not great literature but I am so glad I read it. Good description of inside Russia for the past 20 years.

I've read hundreds of memoirs. This one is in the Top Ten. I read it on Kindle. I am back to buy a hardback as the pictures included are wonderful and deserve a place in my library. The story seemed a bit disjointed to me. First comes the part written by Alexei and finished by his wife. Then more of the prison days, his last few years - IG posts and the prison diary. Why were these after the main story? Was it added by his wife at the last moment? No matter. It still shines. Some of the activities permitted in prisons abroad seem like luxuries, such as cooking in a cell. But then there is the torture... Navalny's wit and charm, his love for his family, his idealism, his dedication to stand by his word, even at the cost of his life - all of these come through in this brilliant memoir. I especially enjoyed reading about his childhood as that part of his life was unfamiliar to me. I found myself laughing out loud a few times. He was a great human being. His death was a tragedy, yet not unexpected. The fact that those responsible will never pay is outrageous. Navalny didn't think Putin would kill him while incarcerated as it was too "public". But he did. And no one did a thing about it. Alexei is missed.

It was evident, from the start, that Alexei Navalny loved his county and his care of 'fellow man' was sincere. It was thought if he and his followers could participate in honest elections, Russia could be on a path to prosperity for all. The problem wasn't so much one man as a system which allows a few to prosper on the backs, hardships of others which was/is the focus of what has to change. And that the elites are not about to see their power or wealth lessened in doing so. While I feared the memoir would be endless griping about this and that, I found the complete opposite. Navalny's efforts were methodical, without malice, and how he maintained such optimism in light of the obstacles, setbacks, and challenges he faced surprised me. Very refreshing and made it all the easier to 'hear' his message. Thank you Yulia for putting this together, giving us insight into the true workings of a regime - yet raising, keeping hope Russia may someday find her way as you have so bravely sought.

I cannot add to what others have already said. Be aware, there are some parts that will probably be a bit dry, but keep going. Navalny was a person with great courage and purpose, even in his last year in prison when he had almost no contact with people. His resolve and ability to maintain sanity and purpose is amazing. In the epilogue, he gives the two primary reasons - accept the worst, and religious faith (which for him was the person of Jesus, some will call it Christianity, buy I think what he had was better than what passes for Christianity in America today). Highly recommend; it challenges me to live with more purpose.

Interesting story! Miss Nelvany fighting for justice & Russia. Tragic loss.

How I love this man. This posthumous memoir by Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader, published after he was murdered on Putin’s orders in February, is sad, inspiring, hilarious and idiosyncratic, like the man himself. It starts with an electrifying recollection of what it was like to be poisoned (unsuccessfully) with novichok on an internal flight in Russia, then switches to an autobiography starting in his childhood, then some recollections of his campaigning days, and finally memoirs which he was quite remarkably allowed to write in prison and which even more remarkably his lawyer or wife was allowed to take away after his death. The title he chose, ‘Patriot’, is striking. But perhaps not, in the light of the great tradition of Russian oppositionists who chose to remain in Russia even if it meant prison and death, one thinks of Akhmatova’s poem ‘Not under foreign skies’ or those who returned to the Soviet Union after the civil war, unable to bear being outside Russia. For a Russian, to be outside Russia is to be outside life, it seems. Navalny’s fierce integrity, enormous courage, his refusal to flinch or compromise, we knew about these already. What is new here is his insight, a rare thing, a public figure who sees himself clearly, his doubts and mis-steps, and who is not fond of his portrait as hero. And his wonderful sense of humour, often self mocking, sometimes mischievous and anarchic - as when live on his Oscar-winning documentary he rings the FSB man in charge of of murdering him, posing as FSB investigator berating him for his incompetence, before revealing who he really is. Or the immense lengths he went to sort out of the genealogical context of the War of the Roses, there in his isolation cell in his freezing Arctic prison, not long before his death. Above all, his mockery of Putin and clear sighted contempt for the murderers, thieves and liars who surround him. Mockery he says is to them like sunlight to vampires. He focuses in on truth as the bedrock of everything else, just as lies are the foundation a tyranny. I did not know that in his last months he became a kind of Christian. But it is no surprise that in doing so he focussed not on rituals and masses but on the Sermon on the Mount. Blessed is he who hungers and thirsts for righteousness sake. Indeed. He talks interestingly about fear, how Putin and his like count on it, how the one thing they fear is those who are not cowed. He describes how fear comes and goes, how you might keep out of trouble because you're afraid, but then it becomes too great and you’re terrified, and then you suddenly overcome it. How courage is not the absence of fear, but simply taking a decision that it will not define you: interesting. His treatment in prison became progressively harsher as it was clearer to Putin that he could not be broken. His conditions and treatment became a form of torture, psychological as well as physical, in the end it was clearly designed to kill him, and it did. Or was it a bullet in the neck or Putin’s favourite Novichok again? Poison, the coward’s favourite. What we know for certain is that he was unflinching in his commitment to his course of action right to the end, in that lonely cell in that lonely prison, cut off from everybody, even his lawyer. I mourn this man three times over. I mourn his loss to his lovely wife and two children, of whom there are such beautiful photographs here, and not the least of his commitment was the knowledge what it would do to them, though his wife Julia fiercely supported and does support all that he did. The children lost their father in their teens, difficult enough time. To have lost such a man as your father... I hope they’re doing ok. I mourned him on behalf of Russia, which so much needed a man like this, a great patriot and believer in Russia’s rich future, beyond all lies and killing and corruption. (But then Russia has always murdered its best). And lastly I mourn him for myself, because I always felt comforted by knowing he was alive somewhere, he represented hope in a darkening world. But then if he had that effect on me, and on you, he achieved what he wanted, did he not?

A true hero’s story

What dedication to his homeland and its people. One of the best books I have read and a damming indictment to Putin and his cohorts .

Un libro da leggere se si è interessati alla storia contemporanea!

"And don't you be afraid!" This is one of Alexei Navalny's most famous quotes. There is a song about him under the same name and several people remember him by this quote. That's why, perhaps, it is unsurprising that his book talks of a life that has simply one lesson for everyone - And don't you be afraid. It is part memoir, part autobiography and part prison diary, all the way peppered with the author's indefatigable dark humour. It has four parts- The first - Alexei’s near-death, the second - his childhood and everything that drove him towards politics, the third - his political work as the sole face of Russian Opposition and the fourth - his prison diaries. By far, the last part is an emotionally difficult and moving read. Not because his cheeriness or good-humour fail him in those conditions that are as close to hell as can be humanly replicated, how desperately Putin tries to break the spirit of the most influential Leader of the Opposition. And yet, for all that Putin did, he failed. Alexei’s cheeriness and faith in humanity and his belief that Russia will be free and happy last all through his life. Never once does he lose that belief and that is seen all through his prison diaries. The first part starts with the line "Dying really didn't hurt" and in it he describes, down to the most minor detail, the day when he nearly died after collapsing into a coma mid-flight between Tomsk and Moscow. By the end of the first part, you are hooked to the fantastic writing style and the gripping plot, infinitely better than the best thrillers - and completely true as well. The second part talks about his childhood and college days, against the backdrop of the political upheavals that defined the latter third of the 20th century, namely; he presidency of Gorbachev, The Afghanistan War, The 'August Putsch', The Fall of the USSR, Yeltsin assuming the position as the President of Russia and so on. He talks of how he was once a starry-eyed Yeltsin supporter and how the purchase of his first car changed his political opinions radically. Part two ends with him recounting how he met his wife, the now Leader of Russian Opposition, Yulia Navalnaya. Part three is the story of his work against trumped-up court cases, (notably the Kirovles and Yves Rocher scandal), his brother's (Oleg Navalny) imprisonment (also thanks to the completely fabricated Yves Rocher case), his own house arrest and the ups-and-downs of the two-decade-plus Putinist tyranny. It's a tale of a political miracle under one of the most repressive conditions on the planet. A figurative rose in a bleak and hopeless political desert. The section ends with him explaining what motivates him to fight for the country, why he no longer fears for his life and why he loves Russia. He puts forth his vision for a Russia, a Beautiful Russia of the Future. This part ends with the line ‘The future is ours’, a belief that Alexei lived and died for and one that millions of Russians cling onto for succour in these dark times. The fourth and last part is a challenging read, and certainly takes emotional involvement to read. His prison diaries, the posts he wrote from prison and his final words on the several court hearings he was subject to during the period of his imprisonment are what constitute this part of the book. The prison diaries are easily the most heartbreaking part of a book and really are not for the faint of heart. He talks of the absolute madness of regulations and searches by authorities, his own hunger strike and sickness, of solitary confinement and punishment cells and of the general vindictiveness of a massive system that uses its entire machinery to break the spirit of one man – and fails. It is a glimpse into a mind that is constantly thinking of the best things for his country. I was half-expecting them to charge him with ‘excessive charisma’ or ‘threatening levels of integrity’. In summary, this is a fantastic book that somehow is heartbreaking, humorous and inspiring, all at the same time. On the day I post this book review, it is the 16th of February 2025, exactly one year since Alexei’s murder, and I feel that everyone should honour his memory by picking up a copy of this book. It will be impactful and the full force of it will hit you straight in the face, but it will be unforgettable. It is impossible to condense a life as eventful as Alexei’s into a single book and the book does not attempt to do so. Instead, it offers us a glimpse into Navalny’s mind-not just the opposition myth and the poisoned legend, but also an insight into the mind of a man who simply wants the best for his country, a man with a humour so black it makes Vantablack jealous and a man who simply thinks that Russia deserves better than Putin-and gave Russians a choice. It is a once in a lifetime book, and it is unlikely you’ll read anything like it ever again. The book does not have a straight plot-line but rather jumps between places and events, starting off in a flight out of Siberia, into Berlin and the Black Forest in Germany and then back into Russia, rushing between prisons and ending in Kharp, Siberia where, on the 16th of February exactly one year ago Alexei would be murdered under mysterious circumstances. It is Alexei’s parting farewell to the burning world he left behind, not just the story of his less-than-fifty–years long life but also the dream he left behind-if he laid the foundation for The Beautiful Russia of the Future, it is up to us to build the road towards it. Five stars are nowhere near enough for this book, I’d give a whole constellation! Simply put, I will recommend to everyone this 400-odd paged part-memoir, part-thriller