In early 2023, Evan Gershkovich was leading a charmed life. The son of Russian émigrés who moved to New Jersey before he was born, he was a Moscow-based foreign correspondent for The Wall Street Journal. He spoke Russian fluently and had a large group of friends. The war between Russia and Ukraine was underway, so he had plenty of stories to cover and the freedom to follow them.

But in March of that year, Gershkovich met a source to discuss a story about Russian tank production. Shortly after they began to talk, Russian security forces burst through the door and arrested him for espionage.

He tells the story of his arrest, imprisonment, trial, and eventual release in “This Cursed Beautiful Land: A Russian-American Story.” What makes his tale unique is that it is so carefully reported with nuance, colorful and vivid descriptions, and even humor.

After his arrest, he was confined to Lefortovo prison and realized that he was an unwilling participant in “hostage diplomacy” – the practice of detaining citizens…