The latter half of the 20th century saw the downfall of the last three dictatorships in Western Europe — the regimes of Franco in Spain, Salazar in Portugal, and the Regime of the Black Colonels in Greece. Their citizens ultimately chose a democratic system over an authoritarian one.

In this book, Alexander Baunov, Russian historian, political researcher and journalist, examines how the dictatorships of these three countries tried to prolong their existence and how they ended, the differences and similarities of this transition, the people, thanks or despite whom this transition took place - and what all of this can tell us about Putin's Russia.

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Rights Sold:

Italy: Mondadori (pre-empt)

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Reviews:

​“Historical narrative that reads like a gripping novel.” —Snob (Russia)

“Alexander Baunov knows how to talk about the past in such a way that the narrative not only seems fascinatingly rich, but also becomes a detailed commentary on what is happening to us today.” —Kirill Serebrennikov, theatre director

“Alexander Baunov’s book [is] perhaps the most powerful and useful statement about Russia’s prospects.” —Galina Yuzefovich for Meduza (Russia)

“For Russians, reading is the new resistance… In Baunov’s book, readers are looking for examples—and for glimmers of hope.” —Foreign Policy (US)

“By analysing the crucial moments that led to the dissolution or transition towards democracy of these dictatorial regimes, the reader cannot help but think about the current situation and future developments: clearly, with optimistic hope for those who hope for freedom, with reasonable apprehension for those who closely support the regime of the Tsar of Leningrad.” —MAMe (Italy)

“A book about Spain in the 1970s called THE END OF THE REGIME, written by the former editor-in-chief of the Carnegie.ru website and published in 2023, cannot be perceived as anything other than current journalism.” —Baltijas Balls (Latvia)

“Alexander Baunov has become one of the most important voices for me in the last ten years.” —Guzel Yakhina, author of the bestselling ZULEIKHA and A VOLGA TALE

“In the preface to THE END OF THE REGIME, Alexander Baunov, a graduate of classical philology, calls Plutarch’s PARALLEL LIVES his inspiration for the book. This reference immediately hints at the fact that here is a special, slightly old-fashioned, but always attractive type of historical narrative, in which the past serves as a lesson for the present and the future… END OF THE REGIME reads like an optimistic book about how autocracies, even the most stable ones, always come to an end and not necessarily through disaster.” —Kommersant (Russia)

“The impressive hole that has been gaping in Russian non-fiction has finally been closed... The events in the book are described as the people living through them see them. There is no predetermination; their progress depends on countless participants, coincidences and external factors, and every day matters… This insider's view captures the complexity of how history is shaped.” —Gorky.media (Russia)