The Future Is History charts the coming-of-age of four Russians born in the early 1980s, tracing their experiences from the optimism of post-Soviet reforms to the resurgence of authoritarianism under Vladimir Putin. The book offers a nuanced understanding of Russian society and its recurrent totalitarianism. Through personal narratives and intellectual history, Gessen diagnoses the societal and political shifts that have shaped Russia's contemporary governance.

In this book, Masha Gessen provides an incisive overview of the calamitous trajectory of the past few years under the Trump presidency. Gessen highlights the corrosion of the media, the judiciary, and cultural norms, and tells the story of how a short few years have changed the American identity. The book is both an inventory of the ravages caused by autocratic tendencies and a beacon to recovery or enduring and resisting these assaults. Gessen's unique cross-cultural fluency, derived from her Soviet childhood and decades covering totalitarianism in Russia, offers essential insights into the signs of autocracy and its impact on American society.