Seated Rus' - prisoners of Russian prisons, correctional colonies and pre-trial detention centers - are a variety of people, smart and stupid, educated and semi-literate, rich and poor, honest and unprincipled, guilty and innocent. They differ as little from those who remain free as the unwritten laws of the zone differ from those in force in the wild. “Don’t swear off money or prison” is a more relevant formula in Russian life than ever, says the brilliant journalist Olga Romanova. Having experienced this first hand, she created a movement to help prisoners and their families. The heroes of her book are the faces of this very “Seated Rus'”, living people who fell under the skating rink of Russian justice. Their true stories can move you to tears and make you cry with laughter, once again surprising you with how much reality sometimes surpasses the wildest fantasy.