Overview

At the height of the Cold War during her freshman year of high school, CNN’s Jill Dougherty developed an obsession with Russia. Over the next half-century, she studied in Leningrad, traveled the Soviet Union as part of a cultural exchange program, lived in Moscow, and reported on the presidencies of Mikhail Gorbachev, Boris Yeltsin, and Vladimir Putin. Jill’s life is intertwined with Putin’s in interesting ways. They are the same age and share an alma mater. Jill took the position of CNN Moscow Bureau Chief at the same time Putin ascended to Prime Minister and then President. She at first believed him to be primarily an economic reformer, the Western-oriented leader Russia needed. For years she defended him to colleagues and friends, insisting that foreign critics misunderstood his post-Soviet point of view. But as Putin used his growing power to strangle the nation’s independent press, her feelings began to change. When she reported live on the ground to millions of CNN viewers around the world as Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine in 2022, she realized the leader with whom she had sympathized was a tyrant threatening to destroy a place and a people she had come to love. Russia is a memoir that traces Jill’s fascination with Russia and shares the insights into the country, its people, and its leader she has gleaned through forty years of reporting. Readers will see Russia’s evolution through the eyes of the dedicated, compassionate, cancer-surviving, gay woman they have watched on cable since 1983.

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9781493087983

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Reviews

""We know CNN reporter Jill Dougherty from her penetrating Russia reporting and astute analysis. In this great read, Dougherty takes us behind the camera, providing insights beyond the headlines on Russia, Putin, and the Russians themselves. In this highly personal memoir, we also learn a lot about the inspiring woman who broke the news. A must-read for anyone interested in contemporary Russia.""--Marie Yovanovitch, former US Ambassador to Ukraine, Armenia, and Kyrgyzstan ""My Russia is the extraordinary memoir of a remarkable woman who has focused her professional life on Russia, from her high school days mastering the challenging Russian language, through her years of service as CNN's Moscow bureau chief. Writing with the grace and passion of the Russian poets and authors she so admires, Dougherty applies her formidable skills as a foreign correspondent to narrate her decades of experience in the Soviet Union and Russia. She was a witness to many tumultuous moments in history, which she describes in rich, personal detail, including the Kremlin's brutal invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Her insights on Putin and the system that produced him could not be more timely or compelling.""--John J. Sullivan, U.S. Ambassador to the Russian Federation, 2019-2022 ""In My Russia, esteemed journalist Jill Dougherty takes readers on an intimate journey through the heart of a nation she has spent more than five decades studying and covering. Weaving together gripping stories of her experiences with deep insights and observations, Dougherty explores the complexities of Russia's rich culture, tumultuous history, and ever-evolving identity. A fantastic read."" --Clarissa Ward, CNN Chief International Correspondent ""Jill Dougherty has spent more than 20 years covering the rise of Vladimir Putin. Based in Moscow for CNN, she described herself as a Russophile, but her time covering the Kremlin exposed the barbaric underbelly of an authoritarian system that uses propaganda and violence to suppress dissent and crush the journalists and dissidents who stand in its way. My Russia is required reading for those who want to understand how a strongman can take complete control of a country as vast as Russia in less than a generation and the consequences of ignoring the danger the Kremlin still poses to the world today.""--Jennifer Griffin, Chief National Security Correspondent, Fox News ""Jill Dougherty's memoir takes us through one stunning scene after another into those people and events that made the Russia we see today--and made Jill the acclaimed observer that she is. My Russia: What I Saw Inside the Kremlin is absorbing, compelling, personal and insightful. Jill is clear-eyed about Vladimir Putin and other leaders she has seen close-up. But she is also filled with regard for so many of the Russian people she has gotten to know so well.""--Scott Simon, host of NPR's ""Weekend Edition Saturday"" and one of the hosts of NPR's morning news podcast ""Up First""

Author Information

Jill Dougherty was a CNN Correspondent for over thirty years and is now a CNN on-air Contributor, appearing frequently to provide reporting and analysis on Russia and related issues. She served as CNN Moscow Bureau Chief for nine years and held other posts at CNN including White House Correspondent, US Affairs Editor, Managing Editor for the Asia/Pacific Region, and Foreign Affairs Correspondent covering the US State Department. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the World Affairs Council, and the Wilson Center’s Kennan Institute Advisory Council, where she is a Global Fellow. She teaches at Georgetown University’s Center for Eurasian, Russian, and East European Studies and has pursued research on Russia and the media as a fellow at the Shorenstein Center at Harvard’s Kennedy School and at the International Centre for Defence and Security in Estonia. She writes regularly for CNN.com, and her work has been published in The Atlantic, Politico, the Washington Post, and elsewhere. She lives in Washington, DC and speaks fluent Russian.

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