Kicking the Kremlin ─ Russia's New Dissidents and the Battle to Topple Putin

In a watershed moment during the freezing winter of 2011, 100,000 people took to Moscow’s streets to protest Putin’s party sweeping elections amid widespread allegations of corruption. A few months later, punk-rock band Pussy Riot hit headlines around the world when they were arrested following their anti-Putin demonstration in an Orthodox cathedral. Now, Marc Bennetts takes us straight to the beating heart of the opposition movement, introducing a brave new generation of Russian dissidents. We meet a bustling cast of urban youth, blogging and tweeting to expose the injustices of the regime, and their unlikely allies ? from Bolshoi ballerinas to black-clad Bolsheviks. Featuring interviews with activists and top Kremlin loyalists alike, this vivid and enthralling narrative is the definitive guide to the new Russia.

A British journalist based in Moscow, Marc Bennetts has reported from Russia, Iran, and North Korea for The New York Times, The Times (of London), the Guardian, and the Observer, among other publications. His first book, Football Dynamo, examined Russian culture and society through soccer, the country’s national sport.