In a nation at war, where dissent has been silenced and independent reporting curtailed, how can we glimpse behind the curtain? In Never Say War , journalist and author Åsne Seierstad draws on the testimony of Wagner Group defector Andrey Medvedev and her own time living in the country to build an intimate yet far-reaching portrait of Putin's Russia. From teachers and taxi drivers to homemakers and women left behind by soldiers at war, she reveals the lives of ordinary people navigating violence, injustice and contradiction in a society shaped by conflict. Chaired by Julia Wheeler . Get ahead of your Festival reading and visit the Waterstones Cheltenham Literature Festival bookshop and support Cheltenham Festivals with every purchase.

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