Unpeace

A revelatory portrait of what Russians really think of their country, by the bestselling author of The Bookseller Kabul

'The supreme non-fiction writer of her generation' (Luke Harding)

Putin's Russia is reshaping the world stage. But how can you understand a country that silences its citizens and targets foreign journalists - a nation that has gone so far as to declare it illegal to say they are at war?

The answer, for investigative journalist Åsne Seierstad, began with young Russian soldier Andrey Medvedev, who defected from the infamous Wagner Group and sought asylum in Norway in January 2023. He was three years old when Putin rose to power and through his life story we can follow the transformation of his country. And as Åsne dug deeper into his family and connections, more and more of Russian society opened up to her, from teachers and taxi drivers to homemakers and women left behind by soldiers at war.

Drawing upon Åsne's deep knowledge of Russia and her unparalleled access to the country, Unpeace: Russian Lives at War paints an intimate yet epic portrait of a much-mythologized and little-understood country. With Åsne's characteristic eye for narrative and detail, she takes us behind closed doors and lays bare the lives of individuals, in service of answering vital questions: how did present-day Russia come to be? And how are some Russians looking to change the future of their country?

Praise for Åsne Seierstad:

'One of the greatest, most courageous journalists of our time' Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation

'Seierstad manages to achieve a rare intimacy' New York Times on The Afghans

'Both a masterpiece and a masterclass in investigative journalism' Christina Lamb on Two Sisters