Surviving Autocracy

Surviving Autocracy by Masha Gessen is a sharp, urgent analysis of how democratic norms erode under authoritarian rule. Drawing on their experience covering Putin’s Russia, Gessen examines the rise of autocratic behavior in the United States during the Trump era-showing how language, institutions, and truth itself become warped under sustained assault. The book is both diagnosis and warning: democracy doesn’t fall overnight, but through the steady normalization of lies, cruelty, and lawlessness. Gessen urges readers to resist that normalization, reclaim moral language, and defend the fragile habits of a free society.