2:19pm, Moscow time, 16 February 2024.
The Federal Penitentiary Service of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District announces that Alexei Navalny is dead.
The news sends shockwaves around the world.
In Murder in the Gulag, award-winning journalist John Sweeney goes behind the headlines to reveal what really happened to the Russian opposition leader in the freezing Polar Wolf penal colony in a remote part of Siberia.
The book is less a whodunnit – Russian President Vladimir Putin’s machinery of repression killed Navalny – than a howdunnit.
The narrative relates Navalny’s extraordinary life story in technicolour detail, from his childhood summers spent with his grandparents in the shadow of the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine to his untimely death at the age of 47, cut down in his prime.
This is a warts-and-all portrayal of a highly charismatic but controversial figure who flirted with far-right Russian nationalists before course-correcting, told by an intrepid journalist, based in London and Kyiv, who knew Navalny personally.
Murder in the Gulag contains a warning.
Navalny made a fatal misjudgement in returning to Russia after his poisoning by Novichok in 2020, betting that Vladimir Putin wouldn’t kill him.
But as Putin has gained in strength, with the death of Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin and the fortunes of war slowly turning in Russia’s favour, Navalny lost that bet.
Sweeney argues that if the West fails to stand up more forcefully to Putin, we are in danger not just of betraying Ukraine but our own security too.
‘Murder in the Gulag is brilliant journalistic writing: punchy, eloquent, page-turning and factual. It’s a powerful reminder of what an extraordinary man Navalny was’ – Roland Oliphant, Telegraph
Delivery options
Orders are processed and dispatched Monday to Friday.
Estimated Dispatch Times:
Items are usually dispatched within twenty-four to seventy-two hours. Dispatch time does not include delivery. If one or more items are not available when you place your order there may be a delay in dispatch, so that we can send your items in as few parcels as possible.
Latest UK Delivery Estimates
- 1st Class - 1-2 working days
- 2nd Class - 2-3 working days
- Free Click and Collect at Daunt Books Marylebone
Latest International Delivery Estimates
- Europe - Standard 7-10 working days
- Europe - Tracked and Signed 4-7 working days
- Rest of the World - Standard 15-20 working days
- Rest of the World - Tracked and Signed 10-15 working days
Ongoing Covid restrictions, reduced air and freight capacity, high volumes and winter weather conditions are all impacting transportation and local delivery across the globe.
Overseas Delivery Information
We are experiencing delays with deliveries to many countries, but in most cases local services have now resumed. For more details, please consult the latest information provided by Royal Mail's International Incident Bulletin.
Overseas Customs
If you are ordering goods for delivery outside of the UK, please note that your consignment may be subject to import duties and taxes, which are levied once the goods reach the country of destination.
Any such charges levied in relation to customs clearance must be paid by you. It is accepted by you that Daunt Books has no control over additional charges in relation to customs clearance. We recommend that you check with your local customs officials or post office for more information regarding importation taxes/duties that may be applicable to your online order as this changes country to country.
