Kicking the Kremlin: Russia's New Dissidents and the Battle to Topple Putin - Softcover

Bennetts, Marc

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1780743483 ISBN 13: 9781780743486

Publisher: Oneworld Publications, 2014

Synopsis

A high-octane account of the politics and subterfuge of modern-day Russia

As 2011 came to a close, in what was a watershed moment, 100,000 took to Moscow's freezing streets to protest the election victory of United Russia – Vladimir Putin's party – amid widespread allegations of corruption and vote-rigging. A few months later, Pussy Riot hit headlines around the world when they were arrested following their anti-Putin demonstration in a Russian Orthodox cathedral. The vicious battle for Russia's soul continues to this day.

In the first book to take the reader straight to the beating heart of the opposition movement, journalist and long-time Moscow resident Marc Bennetts introduces a new generation of Russian dissidents, united by their hatred of Putin and his bid to silence all political adversaries. We meet a bustling cast of urban youth working to expose the injustices of the regime and a disjointed bunch of dissenters – from 'It Girl' hipsters to 21st-century socialists. Featuring rare interviews with everyone from Pussy Riot and top protest leaders to Kremlin insiders, Bennetts' compelling narrative is an astonishing journey through Russia's new protest movements.

About this title

Review:

'Engagingly grim, frequently absurdist portrait of Vladimir Putin and the popular protests against him, which are gaining steam. Moscow-based British journalist Bennetts (Football Dynamo: Modern Russia and the People's Game, 2009, etc.) maintains a cool, even tone throughout these portraits of the Putin oligarchs, who are determined to keep power, and the leaders of the dissident movements aiming to oust them. Putin, the former security services chief anointed by outgoing Boris Yeltsin to succeed him as president in 2000, was received as a breath of fresh air by his Russian constituents when the country was reeling from the shock therapy of capitalism suddenly imposed after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Poverty and lawlessness plagued the nation, and Putin set about restoring order with strong-arm tactics like quelling the independent media, sabotaging the courts, siphoning oil dollars, appointing regional governors rather than holding elections and stifling breakaway republics. Gradually, Russians began to grow weary of his sausages in exchange for freedom approach to ruling the country. Heartened by the so-called Colour Revolutions that had prevailed in ex-Soviet republics from 2003 to 2005, the Orange threat challenged the pro-Putin right-wing youth movement, while Other Russia leader Eduard Limonov galvanized punks and skinheads into the street-wise NatsBol. However, with the election of heir apparent Dmitry Medvedev in 2008, the scent of change encouraged wider protest against authority e.g., a local mother-turned-activist who saved the Khimki forest from highway construction and lawyer Alexei Navalny s grass-roots anti-corruption campaign. The clincher was Putin s naked comeback to the presidency, a wicked trick engineered with Medvedev and played on the Russian people, whose mood had darkened with the rigged 2012 presidential elections, making way for huge street demonstrations in a rare show of unity, from the New Left to more vociferous groups like Pussy Riot. Bennetts insightfully portrays a Russia on the cusp of popular revolt.' --Kirkus Reviews

'Dark, compelling, and illuminating. Bennetts meets priests, lawmakers, spin-doctors, ordinary Russians, left-wing agitators, and riot cops in this vivid first-hand portrait.' --Luke Harding, Guardian correspondent and author of Mafia State

'Colourful and authoritative. The best account of Russia's protest movement and Putin's ferocious crackdown.' --Angus Roxburgh, author of The Strongman: Vladimir Putin and the Struggle for Russia

'An engagingly grim, frequently absurdist portrait of Vladimir Putin and the popular protests against him' Kirkus Review

'A lively, sardonic account of Putin's reign and those opposed to it.' Metro

'Bennetts' entertaining book Kicking the Kremlin could hardly have come at a better time... Bennetts is well-placed to write the book. The huge variety of his interviews, through which he elicits a pleasing selection of anecdotes, as well as accusations of being a foreign spy, show his familiarity with the country and its people.' We Love This Book
'A compelling account of how a disparate set of political groups came together to create the largest anti-government protests Russia has seen in living memory. Bennetts doesn’t attempt any grand theologising nor does he impose his own politics on the account – which in this case is welcome.' New Statesman

From the Back Cover:

As 2011 came to a close, in what was a watershed moment, 100,000 took to Moscow s freezing streets to protest the election victory of United Russia Vladimir Putin s party amid widespread allegations of corruption and vote-rigging. A few months later, Pussy Riot hit headlines around the world when they were arrested following their anti-Putin demonstration in a Russian Orthodox cathedral. The vicious battle for Russia s soul continues to this day.
In the first book to take the reader straight to the beating heart of the opposition movement, journalist and long-time Moscow resident Marc Bennetts introduces a new generation of Russian dissidents, united by their hatred of Putin and his bid to silence all political adversaries. We meet a bustling cast of urban youth working to expose the injustices of the regime and a disjointed bunch of dissenters from It Girl hipsters to 21st-century socialists. Featuring rare interviews with everyone from Pussy Riot and top protest leaders to Kremlin insiders, Bennetts compelling narrative is a high-octane account of the politics and subterfuge of modern-day Russia."

About this edition

• Publisher: Oneworld Publications
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1780743483
• ISBN 13: 9781780743486
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 320