Alexei Navalny was a Russian who fought the Putin dictatorship and other Russian oligarchs. He protested by demonstrating, writing letter, forming opposing organizations and even running in a presidential election. In this memoir which he secretly wrote while he was in prison, we see the human as well as the activist side of Navalny. He was a loving husband, father, son and brother, a brilliant caring intellectual, a man with a sense of humor, a Christian, and a true patriot.

Just when I thought there were no recent works of nonfiction that appealed to me, I found Patriot. When I thought there were so few heroes in the world, I learned in detail about Alexei Navalny. Patriot begins with his poisoning in August of 2020 which he describes in detail, and it never lets up. Navalny’s memoir is infuriating, intellectually stimulating, heart felt and definitely worth reading.