The Dark Side of the Earth

A TIMES HISTORY BOOK OF THE YEAR On April 12, 1961, the Soviet Union begins its countdown. From the steppes of Kazakhstan, the first human - Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin - launches into space. In that moment, another countdown begins. How could it be that a single generation - just three decades - would separate the USSR's crowning achievement from the collapse of the Soviet empire? More than a history lesson, The Dark Side of the Earth is a testament to the enduring fight for truth and freedom. In pursuit of the real story, renowned Kremlin opponent Mikhail Zygar ('one of Russia's smartest and best-sourced young journalists' - New York Times) gathered witness statements of jaw-dropping candour from hundreds of key players: the last first secretaries and first presidents of the post-Soviet republics, the leaders of independence movements, Western politicians and diplomats, and Mikhail Gorbachev himself, not to mention dozens of scientists, authors, film directors, aspiring rockstars and ordinary men and women who for a time became the accidental protagonists of history. The end of the USSR set the stage for today's vengeful return. But as Gagarin looked down from the stars at his home world, was Russia's fate already written?

Mikhail Zygar is a journalist and the founding editor-in-chief of TV Rain, which was Russia's last independent news channel. His books include War and Punishment (2023), a defence of Ukrainian sovereignty, and All the Kremlin's Men (2017), a critical portrait of Putin's inner circle that was a number-one bestseller in Russia for several months. In 2024, a Moscow court convicted him for his critical reporting and sentenced him to eight and a half years in prison. He now lives in exile.