# Gershkovich memoir recounts wrongful imprisonment and release in Russia

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/this-cursed-beautiful-land-by-evan-gershkovich-review-jailed-in-putins-russia/
- Published: 2026-11-13T07:00:13+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-13T07:32:27+00:00
- Original publisher: The Guardian (publisher lean: Left)
- Original article: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2026/nov/13/this-cursed-beautiful-land-by-evan-gershkovich-review-jailed-in-putins-russia
- Topics: Americas, Culture, Europe, World

## Key points

- Gershkovich spent 18 months in Russian jails.
- He was released in a prisoner exchange in 2024.
- The memoir is compelling, though its prison perspective is limited.

## Summary

Evan Gershkovich’s memoir recounts his arrest on false espionage charges in Russia, his 18 months in prison and his release in a 2024 prisoner exchange. The review praises the book’s compelling account of his ordeal and its portrait of how the invasion of Ukraine and the Kremlin’s restrictions drove reporters from Russia.

Gershkovich, a US-born journalist with Russian Jewish parents, describes becoming a correspondent in a country he had grown to love. In prison, he kept a diary, read, exercised and formed bonds with cellmates, while understanding that he was likely to be exchanged; the reviewer says this relative security shapes his perspective on prison life and limits his view of Russia beyond the jail.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.