Dit vervloekte prachtige land: Verslag vanuit een Russische cel: leven onder Poetins regime

by Evan Gershkovich, Margreet de Boer (Translator), Frans van Delft (Translator)

Rusland-correspondent voor The Wall Street Journal Evan Gershkovich wordt opgepakt door de Russische veiligheidsdienst, op verdenking van spionage. Onder valse voorwendselen wordt hij ruim een jaar vastgehouden onder verschrikkelijke omstandigheden. In Dit vervloekte prachtige land vertelt hij voor het eerst over die periode.
De Amerikaanse journalist Evan Gershkovich werkt als Rusland-correspondent voor The Wall Street Journal. Ook na de inval van Rusland in Oekraïne in februari 2022 blijft hij ter plaatse verslag doen, al verlaten steeds meer journalisten en critici het land. In het voorjaar van 2023 ontmoet hij een Russische tipgever voor een artikel over Ruslands wapenproductie. Het gesprek blijkt een valstrik. Gershkovich wordt opgepakt door de FSB op verdenking van spionage en onder valse voorwendselen opgesloten in een beruchte gevangenis in Moskou. Hij is een pion in een geopolitiek schaakspel.
Terwijl Gershkovich' wereld van de ene op de andere dag krimpt tot een kleine betonnen cel, neemt hij een opmerkelijk hij blijft verslag doen. In de daaropvolgende zestien maanden documenteert hij een leven in Rusland waar weinig westerlingen weet van hebben. Hij beschrijft het omvangrijke gevangenissysteem met zijn eigen taal en gebruiken, met daarin verrassende kleine momenten van medemenselijkheid.
In dit ongelooflijk spannende en ontluisterende verhaal neemt Gershkovich de lezer mee in de gebeurtenissen die leidden tot zijn aanhouding, de vele maanden die hij doorbracht in Russische gevangenissen en de grootse internationale gevangenenruil die zorgde voor zijn vrijlating. Dit vervloekte prachtige land is een buitengewoon verslag van Rusland en zijn mensen, met oog voor de schoonheid en de gruwelijke geschiedenis waardoor het land zo moeilijk te doorgronden is.
'Door de ogen van Gershkovich zien we een Rusland dat tegelijkertijd compassievol en meedogenloos is. Een verhaal over de bruisende hoofdstad, eenzame gevangeniscellen, wanhoop en vriendschap. Prachtig opgetekend door een journalist die Rusland als geen ander kent. Leest als een thriller maar komt harder binnen omdat het allemaal echt gebeurd is.' Pjotr Sauer
'Een inspirerend eerbetoon aan de schoonheid en het belang van journalistiek, een zinderende thriller over de hoge inzet van "gijzelaarsdiplomatie" en een aangrijpende beschouwing over de menselijke strijd tussen hoop en apathie onder een autoritair bewind.' Patrick Radden Keefe, auteur van o.a. Het pijnstillerimperium en London Falling
'Soms geestig, vaak aangrijpend, maar altijd Dit vervloekte prachtige land is meer dan het verhaal van een journalist die zelf het nieuws werd. Dit boek is een getuigenis van de menselijkheid die hij weigerde op te geven, én een gevangenismemoir die eveneens een liefdesbrief is. Niet aan de dictatuur die hem opsloot, maar aan het Rusland zijn taal, zijn landschap, zijn literatuur en zijn mensen.' Anthony Doerr, auteur van Als je het licht niet kunt zien

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Russia, History, Journalism, Biography, Politics

464 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 29, 2026

About the author

Evan Gershkovich is a foreign correspondent for The Wall Street Journal based in Berlin. Born in New Jersey to Soviet émigrés, he lived in Russia for over five years before his 2023 arrest and subsequent sixteen-month imprisonment on false espionage charges. His writing has also appeared in The New York Times, The Economist and Foreign Policy, and he was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2025 as part of an investigative team for The Journal. He is the recipient of a MacDowell Fellowship.

Reviews

[Andrew]

What happens, depending on interpretations, when the lines between journalism and espionage blur? Drawn into this vortex, with spellbinding lucidity, Russian American journalist Evan Gershkovich exposes the bewildering paradox of Russia: beautiful, cursed, and completely misunderstood by the West. I haven't read anything as moving or close to the troubled Russian soul since Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. With almost no accurate information emerging on contemporary conditions, this is a crucial work to understand what it is like in Putin's regime.

[Zoya Kinstler]

A professional journalist gets into Russian prison hell. He not only survives but uses his journalist skills to learn from people he meets inside and outside his cell: fellow prisoners, guards, and state operatives. The result is an honest and heartfelt book. Evan tells his gripping story in an unassuming and reader-friendly voice. I could not put this book down––finished in less than three days. It has it all: amazing journalistic adventures, soul-crushing political realities, deeply personal moments, and important history lessons.

[Victoria Lisek]

I've been anticipating this book since the day in 2023 when American journalist Evan Gershkovich was arrested and imprisoned in Russia, on false accusations of espionage.

I read memoirs to learn about myself through learning about the writer. Gershkovich is someone who I share pre-exisiting similarities with: young, liberal-minded, raised by a post-Soviet/Jewish family in the West. The first chapter, detailing his upbringing, is the easiest chapter in the book, and it was delightful to recognise myself in his descriptions of tear-stained Russian language textbooks and the process of watching your parents adopt Western over Soviet values.

The question I always held, with slight (read: overt) judgement, is how does someone like him find themselves as a Russia correspondent, in Russia, knowing the damage Russia has caused and is causing? If you have the privilege of growing up in the West, despite all odds, why would you choose to go back to what our parents left and report from behind the ever-exisiting Iron Curtain? Gershkovich disdains the Russian political establishment, pervasive corruption, and to some extent Russian society. But he also cherishes his friends, the cities, and the diverse Russian landscape. I found it confrontational and necessary reading, a reminder to myself that a post-Soviet kid can have a positive relationship with our "homeland", without turning a blind eye to its crimes, past and present.

Above all, the value of Gershkovich's reporting from Russia, after 2014, and especially after the full-scale invasion, is proven by this book. When he was arrested, he set out to continue working as a journalist from prison. What I read was the best journalistic coverage of Russia since 2022. Gershkovich paints a picture of a Russia that has completely fallen for the fascist, authoritarian system that the Kremlin has overtly and covertly been building towards for decades. He witnesses this through the apathetic negligence of the FSB (Russian intelligence agency), extremist views espoused through his prison TV, and readiness of fellow prisoners to be drafted for war.

I appreciated Gershkovich's honest reckoning with his actions. He admits to finding his prison experience slightly fascinating; an adrenaline kick that affords him the opportunity to report from an exclusive side of Russia. This doesn't come without guilt though, struggling with his family's welfare through his imprisonment, and the awareness that he was a coveted trading chip who needed to be kept in pristine condition (he is whisked off to see physiotherapists after complaining about his shoulder), unlike Ukrainian POWs tortured, sometimes to death, in Russian cells.

The happy ending of this book is Gershkovich's release and return to normal life in the West. When the happy ending for Russia will come, and what it will look like, is still unclear. Even more so after reading this book.

[Yuni]

A fascinating look into the psyche of what's become a black box of a country, and the latest in the apparently time-honored Russian tradition of throwing writers in prison to hone their craft. Also, I'm obsessed with the fact that the Russian Army has official onigiri.

[Julie]

This is a compelling account of the author’s time in Russian prison. Hard to believe someone could be this naive, but there you go.

[Caitlin]

A gripping story so wild it’s hard to believe it really happened. The author does a great job walking you through his early years as an American with Russian roots, learning the journalism ropes in Moscow, and how he ultimately walked into a trap that led to his imprisonment under false espionage charges to be used as a political bargaining chip. This part really reads like a thriller!

He gives a fascinating and detailed description of life behind bars including the struggles and pleasures (like his friendship with his cell mate, a budding romance through letters with another journalist on the outside). He watches the news unfold on the radio/tv (sometimes about him) while he’s helpless in jail wishing he could be covering these crazy stories.

What we get is his inner thoughts during this time, the entire court process, and how he got freed in a prisoner swap. Loved it and rooting for him as he continues getting back to normal life.

[Charlie Harris]

Compelling account of both the lead up and course of Evan Gershkovich’s imprisonment in Russia. Deftly weaves his personal narrative with broader themes and insights into the mindset of Russia and Russians. Most compelling is his first hand accounting of the various regime functionaries whom he encountered during his time in custody. Reminiscent of Solzhenitsyn and The Gulag Archipelago, but with the constant reminder that Gershkovich’s treatment as an American bargaining chip is much less harsh than the average Russian prisoner. He clearly understands that though, which means the book is appropriately respectful of his status versus those of his fellow prisoners.

Highly recommended.

[clare d.]

Thrilling, big hearted. Evan dives into his experience and I was really struck by how, despite it all, there is no questioning the love he has for Russia and the empathy he feels for its people. Was a really interesting look into the systems of an autocracy and the psyche of those who live under its thumb. What does anyone *actually* believe versus what are they saying they believe versus what is being strategically left unexamined? I found myself thinking a lot about the Great Man theory of history which ironically my reading of Tolstoy had sort of disabused me of, but it is worth remembering the effects on so many peoples lives that one leader can have.

[Max Manzone]

An interesting glimpse inside the mind of Evan Gershkovich outlining his time in Russian captivity. He’s introspective in the realization that this imprisonment as journalist in Russia was almost a right of passage considering the historical track record. I’m shocked at how almost rosy he is about this time in Lefortovo but even more so about the Russians he met who were simply part of the system. Worth a read

[Nathalie]

An hour prior to watching Evan appear at a book lecture, I was able to finish his book. It’s beyond fascinating. You will come away with a greater sense of understanding about some of the Russians and their ideology. Evan does a fantastic job describing his journey and especially his time in jail.

[Kay]

Listened to the audiobook. Narration was ok. A bit monotone and without emotion. This book was long …and I felt that while reading it. There were parts I was not overly interested in but overall it was a good book.

[Morgan Doyle]

Evan, your PHS classmate here! Thank you for sharing your story in such an accessible way, especially for those of us who came to it with little familiarity with Russian politics or the penal system.

[Sanjay Banerjee]

An account of the great game of prisoner-swapping between Putin’s Russia and the West through the narrative of the WSJ journalist’s story.

[Holly Williams]

Incredible!!!