Motherland

An i Paper Best History Book of 2025
‘I have followed Julia’s writing and work for many years and so admire her coverage of Russia. But this is a book for everyone, whether or not you’re interested in Russia or history. The stories of these women and of her family are extraordinary and amazingly told. The book reads like a great old fashion thriller but takes us right up to today—it truly is fantastic, just incredible. Find your way to Motherland. You’ll rip through it because it’s so fascinating’
Sarah Jessica Parker, actress, producer, and publisher
‘A tour de force account of Russia’s tumultuous history through a unique lens. Ioffe tells the story behind the story: the courageous women who shaped Russia’s future and how their lives tragically reflected their country’s fate’
Catherine Belton
‘Ioffe has written enough about the Kremlin that she cannot set foot on Russian soil without risking arrest. The motherland she was instructed never to forget has cast her out. But if you want to comprehend it, examining it through the eyes of its women — the backbone of the country — as Ioffe does, is an excellent place to start’
Sunday Times
‘An enthralling narrative that is both sweeping and intimate’
New York Times
‘Julia Ioffe makes a refreshing argument that a different Russia is possible…a major achievement’
Financial Times
‘Cleverly conceived and brilliantly executed’
Guardian
‘Excellent…an extremely readable, personal and original account’
Spectator
‘A fresh, unexpected, and revealing portrait of Russia. Julia Ioffe tracks the transformation of Russia from dictatorship to democracy and back again in sharp, engaging prose, filling in the blanks, telling the stories left out by so many others’
Anne Applebaum, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Gulag and Red Famine
‘A masterful blend of history, reportage, and family memoir. A fascinating, captivating, and unforgettable read’
Ada Ferrer, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Cuba: An American History

JULIA IOFFE is a Russian-born American journalist. Her articles have appeared in the Washington Post, the New York Times, the New Yorker, Foreign Policy, Forbes, Bloomberg Businessweek, The New Republic, Politico, and the Atlantic. Ioffe has appeared on television programs on MSNBC, CBS, PBS, and other news channels as a Russia expert. She is a founding partner and Washington correspondent at Puck.

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