The Descent

An extraordinary first-hand account of Russia''s descent into totalitarianism, paranoia and madness.Marc Bennetts, Russia correspondent for The Times, moved to Russia in the final years of President Yeltsin''s rule – settling in what was then the most exciting new free country in the world after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Thirty years later, The Times pulled him out of Russia over concerns for his security. Beginning with the Prodigy''s legendary concert in Red Square, which seemed to signal a new era of freedom for the Russian people, and ending with the author narrowly escaping death under Russian fire in Ukraine, this book is a unique and personal diary of a descent into totalitarianism.Marc Bennetts witnessed the often-terrifying events in Russia up close, observing how slowly but surely freedoms were stripped away and how the Kremlin''s ubiquitous propaganda warped minds and fomented hatred of Putin''s foes, both real and imagined.