How to Survive Authoritarianism : A Russian's Phrasebook for Everyday Life in America

An indispensable, irreverent lexicon that gives Americans the language we need to face the threat of authoritarianism today–from the country that’s been surviving it for a century

In Russia, tyranny has been the law of the land for generations. Over the years, a vernacular of double-speak emerged, one that helped ordinary people make sense of how illiberalism takes shape and makes itself felt in daily life. It allowed them to talk about authoritarianism and to subvert it—with a healthy dose of humour and irony along the way. In this edifying yet light-hearted glossary, two exiled dissidents share one hundred Russian idioms and turns of phrase, from “apparatchik” to “samizdat”. Some, like “power vertical", give name to a hypercentralised form of government. Others are playful, like mnogohodovochka (“master plan”), used to deride bizarre, misguided state measures. Taken together, they make up the vocabulary we need to understand what is really taking place in America and offer a roadmap to what might lie ahead.