Marzio G. Mian is an award-winning journalist, and his research has been funded by the Pulitzer Center. He is the winner of the Staige D. Blackford Prize for Nonfiction, the True Story Award for international reportage, and the Premio Estense, one of Italy’s leading nonfiction prizes. The author of five books, he lives in Milan, Italy. Elettra Pauletto is a writer and a translator of French and Italian. She lives in Western Massachusetts. Alessandro Cosmelli is an award-winning photographer. He has published five monographic books and collaborates with the Pulitzer Center. He works out of Miami, Florida.

"Elegant and penetrating… Mian’s book, one of the best on Russia by a foreign reporter since David Remnick’s Lenin’s Tomb: The last days of the Soviet empire (1993), is an invaluable worm’s-eye view as well as a nuanced reflection on the historical sources of belief and identity. With relentless curiosity, Mian seeks out priests, musicians, spin doctors and writers as he follows the Volga’s flow, while taking advantage of every chance encounter with people from Wagner Group mercenaries to teenage clubbers. The result is a perfect blend of serendipity, inquiry and atmosphere… Elettra Pauletto’s nuanced translation ably conveys Mian’s stylish brand of literary reportage."

Marzio G. Mian is an award-winning journalist, and his research has been funded by the Pulitzer Center. He is the winner of the Staige D. Blackford Prize for Nonfiction, the True Story Award for international reportage, and the Premio Estense, one of Italy’s leading nonfiction prizes. The author of five books, he lives in Milan, Italy. Elettra Pauletto is a writer and a translator of French and Italian. She lives in Western Massachusetts. Alessandro Cosmelli is an award-winning photographer. He has published five monographic books and collaborates with the Pulitzer Center. He works out of Miami, Florida.

"Elegant and penetrating… Mian’s book, one of the best on Russia by a foreign reporter since David Remnick’s Lenin’s Tomb: The last days of the Soviet empire (1993), is an invaluable worm’s-eye view as well as a nuanced reflection on the historical sources of belief and identity. With relentless curiosity, Mian seeks out priests, musicians, spin doctors and writers as he follows the Volga’s flow, while taking advantage of every chance encounter with people from Wagner Group mercenaries to teenage clubbers. The result is a perfect blend of serendipity, inquiry and atmosphere… Elettra Pauletto’s nuanced translation ably conveys Mian’s stylish brand of literary reportage."

Marzio G. Mian is an award-winning journalist, and his research has been funded by the Pulitzer Center. He is the winner of the Staige D. Blackford Prize for Nonfiction, the True Story Award for international reportage, and the Premio Estense, one of Italy’s leading nonfiction prizes. The author of five books, he lives in Milan, Italy. Elettra Pauletto is a writer and a translator of French and Italian. She lives in Western Massachusetts. Alessandro Cosmelli is an award-winning photographer. He has published five monographic books and collaborates with the Pulitzer Center. He works out of Miami, Florida.

"Elegant and penetrating… Mian’s book, one of the best on Russia by a foreign reporter since David Remnick’s Lenin’s Tomb: The last days of the Soviet empire (1993), is an invaluable worm’s-eye view as well as a nuanced reflection on the historical sources of belief and identity. With relentless curiosity, Mian seeks out priests, musicians, spin doctors and writers as he follows the Volga’s flow, while taking advantage of every chance encounter with people from Wagner Group mercenaries to teenage clubbers. The result is a perfect blend of serendipity, inquiry and atmosphere… Elettra Pauletto’s nuanced translation ably conveys Mian’s stylish brand of literary reportage."