Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Moscow Coup | 1991 | Martin Sixsmith | Buy |
| 2 | The Litvinenko File | 2007 | Martin Sixsmith | Buy |
| 3 | The Lost Child of Philomena Lee | 2009 | Martin Sixsmith | Buy |
| 4 | Putin’s Oil | 2010 | Martin Sixsmith | Buy |
| 5 | Russia | 2011 | Martin Sixsmith | Buy |
| 6 | Ayesha’s Gift | 2017 | Martin Sixsmith | Buy |
| 7 | The War of Nerves | 2021 | Martin Sixsmith | Buy |
| 8 | The Russia Conundrum | 2022 | Martin Sixsmith | Buy |
Martin Sixsmith’s non-fiction spans over three decades and draws heavily on his years as a journalist covering Russia and British politics. Moscow Coup, his first book, provides an eyewitness account of the 1991 attempt to overthrow Gorbachev. The Litvinenko File investigates the 2006 poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko in London, tracing the case back through the murky world of Russian intelligence.
His best-known non-fiction work is The Lost Child of Philomena Lee, which tells the true story of an Irish woman whose son was taken from her and sold for adoption by Catholic nuns. The book led to the award-nominated film Philomena and brought international attention to the forced adoption practices of Irish mother-and-baby homes.
Later books include Russia, an ambitious single-volume history, and The War of Nerves, which examines how psychology has been used as a political tool. Ayesha’s Gift investigates an honor killing in Pakistan, and The Russia Conundrum, co-written with Mikhail Khodorkovsky, addresses the question of how the West should deal with modern Russia.