This is not your typical memoir. The author, since she was in high school, has had a fascination with Russian culture, politics, and the lives of everyday Russians. She was working in Russia during the periods of Gorbachev, Yeltsin, and Putin. Her take on each of these men, and their administrations, and how they affected Russian life is unique and very thoughtful. If only we could put her into the present U.S. administration, she could do wonders helping them to understand how Russia works.
Dougherty writes very well, explaining issues in a clear and understandable manner. The book flows along nicely, with no quirks or confusing areas in it.
I found the book to be fascinating. I would recommend it to anyone interested in Russia, or in our ability to deal with the Russians.

Ms. Dougherty, at a young age, was interested in the Russian language and culture. So much so, she majored in Slavic languages in college. She went on to be a news correspondent focusing on Russia. This book examines Russian life through her experiences inside Soviet Russia and during the time of Vladimir Putin. Through personal stories, investigative reporting, and research, she illustrates the changing governmental norms throughout the decades. Never dry, My Russia introduces you to all the major players in Russia and the author's interaction with them. I recommend this book to people interested in how Russia changed from the USSR to the present and what life was like for everyday people. This book was very satisfying to my continuing interest in Russian history and current events.

Thanks to the Globe Pequot Publishing Group and NetGalley for this free ARC in return for my honest review;

Insightful memoir by Jill Dougherty who was the CNN Moscow Bureau Chief and covered Russia for over 20 years. Growing up in Scranton, PA, Jill took Russian language classes in High School, and became fluent in the language and loved their arts and literature. She went on summer study programs in Russia and even worked for US Trade Delegations. Eventually she moved into Journalism and was on TV in Chicago when she got the chance to work for CNN and eventually travel to Russia. She was there for the Gorbachov and Yeltsin years, and even knew the young Vladimir Putin. She covered his transformation from a new leader who seemingly wanted to be an ally of the West to the current dictator styled ruler. The stories are amazing and she covered some of the worst terror attacks in Russia and the wars in Chechnya. She lived a remarkable life and this book gives an intimate look to Russia and helps is try to understand what happened with Crimea and the Ukraine.

Fascinated by Russia since her high-school days, Jill Dougherty studied the country (then the Soviet Union) and lived there in various roles for several years. This is an insightful look at how it has changed since then, the various governments, the attitudes of the American governments and Russia’s worldview. Her experience of Putin’s Russia is quite scary and she explains the lead-up to the invasion well.

She also writes about her and her girlfriend’s devastating battles with cancer.

I have a great interest in Russia so I really enjoyed reading this book. It should apoeal to anyone who likes autobiographies and wants to study the background to the Russian war with Ukraine.

I received this free ebook from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Jill Dougherty's 'My Russia' is part memoir, and part dive into episodes of Russian and Soviet history and current events. It's a mix of history, political science, and reporting/journalism. There are numerous strengths to having direct anecdotes about Dougherty's experiences and interactions with Soviets and then post-Soviet Russians/Ukrainians, etc., especially when contextualized with larger socio-economic, political, or diplomatic events taking place in parallel. For those unfamiliar with Soviet/Russian history, this is a readable dive into some of the more critical events from the past decades that the author was witness to or was able to interview those involved in the decision-making process. There are, however, numerous weaknesses. This is someone close to the events and people they are interviewing and writing about which reduces the ability to offer a more objective take and commentary on the historic episodes in question. Moreover, based on the limited bibliography, this is someone fully entrenched (understandably so) in journalism and political science rather than history. Thus much of the reasoning Putin and his regime have been using to explain and attempt to justify their actions are missing. Even numerous political scientists who have been writing on Russia, like Richard Sakwa, are missing from the bibliography. So this volume will be of limited use for those familiar with the past thirty-five years of Russia's post-Soviet history, and less useful for those looking at anything beyond an eye-witness account of interactions with the Soviet Union and Soviet citizens by a student participating in study abroad opportunities.

This was such an interesting read and a great insight into what it was really like inside the USSR and Russia in the past decades. Putin is such an enigma today and the choices he and the Russian government have made in the past decade or so have seemed so unbelievable to those of us watching, but this book helped to shed a little bit of light on that. There were occasionally parts that got a bit repetitive, especially since the book jumped around in time, so sometimes we'd cover something multiple times even using the same quotes, but other than that I really enjoyed this book.