TheFutureIsHistory

In her acclaimed book, The Future Is History, award-winning journalist Masha Gessen offers a fearless indictment of Russia’s current autocracy. Gessen presents a compelling account of how Russia has succumbed to a more insidious and intractable form of authoritarianism.

As a native of Russia, Gessen is uniquely positioned to unpack the events and forces that have shaped her country in recent times. She traces the lives of four individuals who were born at a time when democracy seemed to be dawning. With unprecedented expectations, these individuals – some of them descendants of the architects of the new Russia – sought to carve their own paths as entrepreneurs, activists, thinkers, writers, and social beings.

Gessen examines how these aspirations collided with the regime’s machinations, which aimed to crush dissent and foster a return to the Soviet order. She highlights how the regime waged war on the very concept of understanding, extinguishing any hopes of a more democratic future. In its place, today’s Russia has become a terrifying and seemingly unstoppable mafia state.

The Future Is History offers a powerful and urgent cautionary tale for our times and beyond.

作者简介

MashaGessenisastaffwriterattheNewYorkerandtheauthorofseveralbooks,amongthemTheManWithoutaFace:TheUnlikelyRiseofVladimirPutin.Therecipientofnumerousawards,includingaGuggenheimFellowshipandaCarnegieFellowship,GessenteachesatAmherstCollegeandlivesinNewYorkCity.