This is the story of Boris Nemtsov-and of modern Russia. Mikhail Fishman began writing The Successor in 2017; it went to print just weeks before Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, tragically affirming the book's core idea: Nemtsov's fate mirrors the fate of the country. Banned in Belarus and effectively censored in Russia, the book was removed from shelves-but now, in partnership with Babook, it is being republished in its original form, outside of Russia.