Review of 'The Future Is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia' on 'LibraryThing'
This is an amazingly insightful book about Russia, from the end of the Soviet era to the near present, charting the rise of Putin's increasingly authoritarian mafia state through the stories of several characters living through this period. What especially struck me was how many parallels there are between Putin's twisted belief system pairing Russian nationalism and Orthodox Christianity mixed with toxic masculinity, including his chosen enemies (liberalism, gays, imaginary pedophiles), and the US Christian nationalist radical movement that has overtaken the Republican party. It's certainly timely reading.