“ An unflinching journey in the dark night of the Russian mind under Putin .” Peter Pomerantsev
From the “wild” 1990s in Moscow to narrowly escaping death under fire in Ukraine, The Descent is a unique and personal diary of how Russia spiraled into violent insanity. Marc Bennetts witnessed the often-terrifying events in Russia up close, observing how the Kremlin’s ubiquitous propaganda warped minds and fomented hatred of Putin’s foes, at home and abroad, even among people close to him.
A foreign correspondent for The Times and The Sunday Times, Marc Bennetts reported from Russia until he was forced to leave in May 2022, three months after the invasion of Ukraine and following his arrest at an anti-war protest in Moscow. He had lived in Russia for 25 years. Since leaving, he has reported extensively for The Times on the war in Ukraine. He is the author of Kicking the Kremlin, a portrait of opposition figures in Russia (republished in paperback as I’m Going to Ruin Their Lives ).