Three years ago, Wall Street Journal correspondent Evan Gershkovich walked into a steakhouse in Yekaterinburg to meet a source. The source, actually working for Russian intelligence, thrust “state secrets” into his hands. Moments later, men in balaclavas arrested him. Gershkovich’s memoir, “This Cursed Beautiful Land,” recounts his 16 months in Russian detention. He describes the arrest as a farce, a diplomatic bargaining chip. Confined to Lefortovo Prison, he kept a journal, calling his incarceration “the ultimate voyeurism.”

Gershkovich grew up in New Jersey, raised by Soviet emigrants who primed him to yearn for a lost country. This drew him back to Russia, where he struggled with modern customs. In prison, he learned new words like _chifir_ and prison etiquette. He developed relationships with Wagner fighters and guards. The book is a deeply reported, enthralling memoir of his experience inside the Russian penal system.