The Descent - by Marc Bennetts (Hardcover)

About the Book

Weaving memoir with on-the-ground reporting, The Descent illustrates the changing realities of Putin's long and bloody rule and Russia's march to full-scale war in Ukraine.

Book Synopsis

An extraordinary first-hand account of Russia's descent into totalitarianism, paranoia and madness.

Marc Bennetts, foreign correspondent for The Times and The Sunday Times, moved to Russia in the chaotic yet free final years of President Yeltsin's rule. Twenty-five years later, The Times pulled him out of Russia over concerns for his security following his arrest in Moscow at a protest against the war in Ukraine.

From the "wild" 1990s in Moscow to narrowly escaping death under fire in Ukraine, The Descent is a unique and personal diary of how Russia spiraled into violent insanity. Bennetts witnessed the often-terrifying events in Russia up close, observing how the Kremlin's ubiquitous propaganda warped minds and fomented hatred of Putin's foes, both real and imagined, even among people close to him. After leaving Russia, he travelled in war-torn Ukraine, where he came face-to-face with the appalling consequences of this madness.

Bennetts meets a vast array of characters, from Russian politicians, influential Russian Orthodox Church officials and aggressive Kremlin activists to opposition figures and a Siberian shaman who tried to "exorcise" Putin, as well as Russians who took up arms to fight Moscow's invading forces. In this extraordinary panorama, Marc Bennetts shows in frightening detail how a society can lose its mind, and how easily a power-hungry leader can reshape an entire country in his own malevolent image.

About the Author

Marc Bennetts is a foreign correspondent for The Times and The Sunday Times. He reported from Russia for the newspaper until he was forced to leave in May 2022, three months after the invasion of Ukraine and following his arrest at an anti-war protest in Moscow. He had lived in Russia for 25 years. Since leaving, he has reported extensively for The Times on the war in Ukraine. He is also the author of Kicking the Kremlin, a portrait of opposition figures in Russia. The book was republished in paperback in 2016 as I'm Going to Ruin Their Lives by Oneworld. He has also written for the Guardian, Politico, Newsweek and Esquire, among other publications.