Don't Trust, Don't Fear, Don't Beg
The Extraordinary Story of the Arctic 30
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
The true story of Greenpeace activists imprisoned in Russia—and the fight to free them: “A gripping story of tremendous courage that reads like a thriller” (Naomi Klein).
“The most important prison motto is hope for the better, but every moment, literally every moment, be prepared for the worst. Don’t hope, don’t fear, don’t beg.” —Roman Dolgov, one of the Arctic 30
With rising temperatures, a military arms race, and a multi-national rush to exploit resources at any cost, the Arctic is now the stage on which our future will be decided. As the ice melts, Vladimir Putin orders Russia’s oil rigs to move further north. But one early September morning in 2013, thirty men and women from eighteen countries—the crew of Greenpeace’s Arctic Sunrise—decided to draw a line in the ice and protest Arctic drilling.
Thrown together by a common cause, they are determined to stop Putin and the oligarchs. But their protest is met with brutal force as Russian commandos seize the Arctic Sunrise. Held under armed guard by masked men, they are charged with piracy and face fifteen years in Russia’s nightmarish prison system.
Journalist and activist Ben Stewart spearheaded the campaign to release the Arctic 30. Now he tells their astonishing story—a tale of passion, courage, brutality, and survival. With wit, verve, and candor, Stewart chronicles the extraordinary friendships the activists made with their often murderous cellmates, their battle to outwit the prison guards, and the struggle to stay true to the cause that brought them there.
“With its colorful dialogue, moral dilemmas, and scenes of physical danger, Stewart’s book would make a great movie . . . the prison life the book reveals is eye-opening, and Stewart describes it with great verve.” —Foreign Affairs
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Greenpeace activist Stewart uses the recollections and diaries of the "Arctic 30," as well as his involvement in the struggle to free them, to piece together a stirring narrative of protest and government oppression. In September 2013, Greenpeace carried out a protest against Russian oil drilling in the Arctic. The action was peaceful in nature but disruptive to Russian oil conglomerate Gazprom, which has close ties to president Vladimir Putin. As a result, the 30 protesters involved were arrested by Spetnaz (Russian commandos), taken to the high-security prison Murmansk SIZO-1, and charged with piracy. While incarcerated, they developed an intricate understanding of the ways fellow prisoners circumvent the system. Meanwhile, an international movement arose demanding their release and calling attention to the problems of climate change. Readers will quickly empathize with both the dedicated Greenpeace veterans and the less experienced activists who did not realize what they were getting into. Anyone curious about the contemporary state of environmental resistance or the Russian state will feel amply rewarded by this tale, as well as chastened about where we're taking the planet.