# Patriot (book)

* This article is part of a series aboutAlexei Navalny
Personal
Early life
Poisoning
Navalny 35
Imprisonment
protests
Death and funeral
Political activities
2006 Russian march
2011–2013 Russian protests
National Russian Liberation Movement
2013 mayoral campaign
2018 presidential campaign
Navalny Headquarters
Navalny video
Anastasia Vashukevich
Russia of the Future
Navalnyy v. Russia
Navalny's Trade Union
Smart Voting
2019 Moscow protests
Anti-war protests
Anti-Corruption Foundation
Chaika
He Is Not Dimon to You
protests
Putin's Palace
Terminology
Party of crooks and thieves
Associates
Georgy Alburov
Lilia Chanysheva
Yulia Navalnaya
Maria Pevchikh
Lyubov Sobol
Leonid Volkov
Kira Yarmysh
Ivan Zhdanov
Related
Patriot
Navalny :
vte :
Patriot: A Memoir is a posthumous non-fiction book authored by Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and published by Alfred A. Knopf in October 2024. A self-described memoir, Patriot is Navalny's second book, following Opposing Forces (2016). Patriot details Navalny's life and career.

## Synopsis

In Patriot, Navalny details his life and career. The first portion of the book is in narrative form about his life and career, while the second portion is in the form of a prison memoir - some of it describing the boredom, isolation, and suffering living in such a prison, but also including reflections on a variety of topics, "from 19th century French literature to Billie Eilish". It also demonstrates his long fight against giving in to despair despite the authorities' punishments, and gives advice on how not to lose hope.
The book also includes a manifesto for transforming Russia, which include "free elections, a constitutional assembly, decentralisation, and a European orientation". The last entry in the memoir was made on January 17, 2024, a few weeks before his death.

## Writing

Navalny began writing Patriot in Germany after he was poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok in August 2020. He returned to Russia in February 2021, having written much of his memoir by that time, and he was arrested. Navalny was sentenced to 19 years in August 2023 on charges of extremism. In February 2024, he died at a penal colony in the Russian arctic.

## Editing and publication

Patriot was edited from Russian into English by Arch Tait and Stephen Dalziel.
Patriot was announced by Alfred A. Knopf and Navalny's wife, Yulia Navalnaya, on April 11, 2024. Navalnaya edited and finalized the manuscript with Knopf. On X, Navalnaya announced that Patriot had been translated into eleven languages, including a Russian-language edition.
Patriot was published on October 22, 2024 by Knopf in the United States and by Bodley Head (an imprint of Penguin in the UK. Yulia Navalnaya gave an interview to the BBC on the eve of its launch.
The book will be published in Russian, but will not be shipped to Russia. The Russian Government and state media ignored its publication.

## Reception

According to Book Marks, the book received a "rave" consensus, based on nine critic reviews: seven "rave" and two "positive". In the January–February 2025 issue of Bookmarks, the book was rated four out of five. The magazine's critical summary reads: "Patriot, the ultimate testament to defiance, offers a priceless “chance to commune with the mind of a dissident” (Atlantic)".
Writing for The Guardian, Luke Harding praised the book as a "luminous account of Navalny’s life and dark times" and "a challenge from beyond the grave to Russia’s murder-addicted rulers".
Mikhail Zygar of Vanity Fair highlighted the difference in tone throughout the book, calling the first part light and humorous, while writing the prison diary was "horrifying, but impossible to stop reading".