Death of a Dissident: The Poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko and the Return of the KGB

by Alex Goldfarb and Marina Litvinenko

Book Overview

The assassination of former Russian intelligence officer Alexander "Sasha" Litvinenko in November 2006 -- poisoned by the rare radioactive element polonium -- caused an international sensation. Within... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1416551654
• ISBN13: 9781416551652
• Release Date: May 2007
• Publisher: Free Press
• Length: 369 Pages
• Weight: 1.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.6" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

15 Years in 300 pages

I am always looking for a book that can take a complex subject and make it seamless. Boris Berezovsky fighting with Vladimir Gusinsky, Anatoly Chubais fired and rehired by Yeltsin, Chubais knuckling under to Putin, a surprise in the form of Vanessa Redgrave coming to the aid of Akhmed Zakayev, a former Chechen commander who the Russians try to extradite from Denmark, Berezovsky fired by Yeltsin but instrumental in advancing Putin, Roma Abramovitch's handshake with the devil, the Moscow Theatre hostage crisis, the Ryazan incident, good and bad Chechens, hundreds of thousands of dead Chechens, the re-empowerment of the Russian bureaucratic state, the oligarchs and dissidents verses the War Party, and on and on, in a tightly packed, gripping narrative. What Alex Goldfarb and Marina Litvinenko provide is context in the dizzying array of shifting alliances of post-Communist Russia. It grabs you the way Victor Kravchenko's book, "I Chose Freedom" did in the 1940s. You feel for the incredibly brave souls, journalist Anna Politkovskaya, Duma members Sergei Yushenkov andYuri Shchekochikhin whose fate is death at the hands of the FSB; they are all tough, resilient, fearless and doomed. Yet Goldfarb and Marina Litvinenko make you feel for all these people, make you wish that we could do something more to help, make you ache for their tragic and vicious fate. But in tragedy we see what Sasha Litvinenko sees. The joy of fighting back against people who care for nothing but themselves, and have no compunction about ruining the life of anyone who resists them. Like real life James Bonds, Litvinenko, Goldfarb and Berezovsky marshal their resources to poke Putin in the eye daily, taking their pleasures where they find them. Goldfarb takes you into the world of psycho-tropic drugs, binary, and nuclear isotope killing agents and you see that even in the face of utter evil, there is a network that stands fast against Stalin's progeny. By the end of the book you have felt Sasha Litvinenko's intelligence, his wife's devotion, and the final understanding of his fate. His "J'Accuse" hits its target. Maybe in the next round, civil Russia, with the help of democrats like Garry Kasparov, will bring down the War Party, and it will be Putin who stands in the dock. In the meantime, Putin's name stands in disgrace, and we owe no small debt to the writers of this book.

Stranger than Fiction

A remarkable account of a decade-long relationship between three people - a president, an oligarch and a secret agent, which ended in a gruesome murder in London. A real-life drama, which is stranger than any fiction. Reads like John Le Carre. Outstanding!

Fascinating Look At Modern Russia

I've been interested in this story ever since it first broke back in November, and I got this book after seeing an interview with Goldfarb and Marina Litvinenko on Charlie Rose. It is a fascinating look at the events that led up to Litvinenko's poisoning. The story begins with Goldfarb helping Litvinenko and his family escape to Britain via Turkey in November of 2000. The book discusses the relationship between Putin, Berezovsky and Litvinenko against the backdrop of KGB/FSB's rise to control in modern Russia. The book also discusses the Politkovskaya murder, the 2002 Dubrovka theater hostage crisis where 129 people were killed, and how these events and others may be related to the FSB. This book does not sensationalize for the sake of selling, but at the same time remains a compelling read. Fascinating, intelligently-written, and easy to follow along with, this book has offered much insight and inspired me to do even more research on these topics. A great read for anyone interested in analysis of modern politics and power plays.

Documentary written like a political thriller

Emotional and detailed account of events that lead to a tragic death of a former Russian intelligence officer Aexander Litvinenko. Deep and competing political and financial agendas at play. Great book, could not put it down untill finished! Recommend to all who are interested in politics in general and Russia in particular.