My Russia reveals CNN’s Jill Dougherty’s transformative journey from a Cold War-era obsession with Russia to witnessing firsthand the rise of Vladimir Putin and the unraveling of a nation she grew to love
At the height of the Cold War, as a high school freshman, CNN’s Jill Dougherty developed an obsession with Russia. Over the next half-century, she studied in Leningrad, traveled across the Soviet Union, lived in Moscow, and reported on the presidencies of Mikhail Gorbachev, Boris Yeltsin, and Vladimir Putin. Jill’s life, and Putin’s, intersected. They studied at the same Russian university; Jill was named CNN Moscow Bureau Chief just as Putin began his rise to power. She knew he was a former KGB officer, but she also believed he was an economic reformer. As Putin tightened his grip on the media, she changed her mind. In 2022, reporting from Moscow as Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine, she was convinced the leader with whom she once had sympathized was a tyrant threatening to destroy a country she had come to love.
My Russia charts Russia’s evolution through the eyes of an American with rare insight into Russia, its people, and its leaders.
“Jill Dougherty understands Russia—and Putin—better than anyone I know. Over many years as colleagues, I've witnessed her dedication, passion, and personal commitment to understanding the country and its people. This is the fascinating personal story of her Russia.”
"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."
"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."
"In My Russia — a unique and deeply personal memoir — Jill Dougherty conveys a rare understanding and feel for Russia and her people, drawn from exceptional experiences and vivid personal encounters over the five decades she has spent living and working in the country. With the eye of a skilled journalist and the ear of a gifted linguist, Jill is equally insightful and compelling in exposing the dark roots of Vladimir Putin’s brutal war against Ukraine as she is in capturing the surprisingly hopeful spirit and essential humanity of the long-suffering Russian people. For Americans, few challenges in this century will rival the importance and complexity of managing our relationship with Moscow. My Russia is mandatory reading to better understand both the stakes and the opportunities inherent in that challenge.”
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