The word is out: Alexei Navalny’s memoir — started while he was recuperating in a German hospital from the Kremlin’s poisoning attempt on his life, and continued from his prison cell in Siberia following his return to his homeland — is being released for publication in just nine days.

Alexei Navalny – Gone, But Well Remembered

Published by Alfred A. Knopf, it recounts, among other things, “his political career, the many attempts on his life, and the lives of the people closest to him, ad the relentless campaign he and his team waged against an increasingly dictatorial regime. . . . a moving account of his last years spent in the most brutal prison on earth; a reminder of why the principles of individual freedom matter so deeply; and a rousing call to continue the work for which he sacrificed his life.” [Amazon Review.]

I am thrilled to know that this work exists, and that I will soon be able to learn more about the quiet man I never met, but whom I admired so greatly. My readers will recall my following his progression from Putin oppositionist, to poisoning victim, to survivor, to prisoner . . . until that unspeakably horrible day when the world was notified of his mysterious (and still unexplained) death in a Siberian penal colony. And even beyond that day, through the days when the Russian authorities delayed turning his body over to his mother; and finally, the funeral and the outpouring of grief that the Kremlin could not prevent.

I presume the posthumous publication of Navalny’s memoir was facilitated by his widow, Yulia Navalnaya, who said — in a statement released in April by the publisher — that the book was not only a testament “to Alexei’s life, but to his unwavering commitment to the fight against dictatorship, [and that it would] inspire others to stand up for what is right and to never lose sight of the values that truly matter.” [Associated Press, October 12, 2024.]

Navalnaya also revealed that the memoir has already been translated into eleven languages, and that it will “definitely” be published in Russian. [Id.]

I wonder how many copies Vladimir Putin will be receiving for Christmas this year. In fact, I’m tempted to send him one myself.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
10/13/24