don’t give up – The Irish Times

Earlier this year, Alexei Navalny was buried in a cemetery outside Moscow to music from the movie Terminator 2. This was Navalny’s choice, an ode to one of his favourite films that could also be read as a political message: I’ll be back. As Ukraine suffers bombardment and Putin’s regime retains its repressive rule, it can be difficult to believe Navalny’s vision of Russia’s future will return. But in the posthumously published Patriot, Navalny underlines his final message: don’t give up.

Patriot is a highly readable account of a remarkable political life. The tone is often conversational, reflecting Navalny’s metier of social media. Navalny was as likely to use Harry Potter or Rick and Morty as reference points as to cite Tolstoy. Over the course of the book, the narrative moves from Navalny’s autobiography to a prison diary maintained in his final years.

Some readers will come seeking assessments for his movement’s failures. Certain Navalny stances, from a willingness to attend the nationalist “Russian Marches” to his 2014 position on Crimea’s annexation, wrought criticism from erstwhile allies. Some, not all, of his movement’s shortcomings are assessed in Patriot. Navalny is self-critical regarding his youthful excusing of the shortcomings of Russian liberal politicians as a “case of the ends justifying the means”. He would likely accept a new political generation similarly taking him to task.

The book is written for this generation and a wider western audience. It can be a difficult narrative balance. Readers less versed in Russian politics may get lost in the recitation of unfamiliar personalities and parties. However, to remove these sections would reduce the book’s value as a historical document.

[ Alexei Navalny obituary: An unflinching critic of Putin to his last breathOpens in new window ]

Another major figure, Mikhail Gorbachev, loomed over this narrative as I read Patriot. Navalny described loathing Gorbachev in the 1980s but ultimately coming to view him positively for being “incorruptible”. Like Gorbachev, Navalny could inspire admiration even in those who sharply disagreed with him.

Corruption was what Navalny is best known for fighting and incorruptibility is what he modelled, not least in his actions following the 2020 assassination attempt. Authoritarians fear principled commitment. Navalny believed he could inspire it in others. He could still achieve this, even in death. If so, his joking prophecy will be fulfilled: Navalny will be back.

Maurice J Casey is the author of Hotel Lux: An Intimate History of Communism’s Forgotten Radicals