''Mafia State: how one reporter became an enemy of the brutal new Russia'' is a 2011 book by British journalist

Luke Harding Luke Daniel Harding (born 21 April 1968) is a British journalist who is a foreign correspondent for ''The Guardian''. He was based in Russia for ''The Guardian'' from 2007 until, returning from a stay in the UK on 5 February 2011, he was refus ...

Synopsis

''Mafia State'' recounts Harding's period as Russia correspondent for Britain's ''

Guardian Guardian usually refers to: * Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another * ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper (The) Guardian(s) may also refer to: Places * Guardian, West Virginia, Unite ...

'' newspaper and the surveillance and espionage he was subject to; he alleges the

Federal Security Service The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) RF; rus, Федеральная служба безопасности Российской Федерации (ФСБ России), Federal'naya sluzhba bezopasnosti Rossiyskoy Feder ...

(FSB) was involved.

Reception

In ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' A.D. Miller wrote "the importance of Luke Harding's book lies in its first-hand account of a relatively mild but telling bout of state-sponsored harassment" whilst in the ''

New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...

'' David Clark of the Russian Foundation described the book as "absorbing" and wrote "the author's descriptive powers and his insights into the mentality and techniques of

Putinism Putinism (russian: путинизм, translit=putinizm) is the social, political, and economic system of Russia formed during the political leadership of Vladimir Putin. It is characterized by the concentration of political and financial powe ...

are enough to make Mafia State an essential read, but events have conspired to make it a timely one as well". A lengthy review was also published in the ''

London Review of Books The ''London Review of Books'' (''LRB'') is a British literary magazine published twice monthly that features articles and essays on fiction and non-fiction subjects, which are usually structured as book reviews. History The ''London Review of ...

''.

References

2011 non-fiction books Books about intelligence agencies Books about post-Soviet Russia English-language books English non-fiction books Guardian Books books Non-fiction books about espionage The Guardian {{poli-book-stub