Product Description

In 1991, in a huge experiment with a people and in a state of euphoria, Boris Yeltsin abolished the USSR and recreated the Russian nation. At the point of its declaration is was in a state of economic and social disarray and yet there were high hopes. Hopes which have subsequently been dashed.

Robert Service brings to bear his vast knowledge of the people and the country to put the recent upheavals into context and he shows that not everything changed for the worst 1991. The Gorbachev years have allowed the Russian people to give a priority to living a private life and shutting the door on the state. They could think what they liked. The could enjoy intellectual and religious freedom, and indulge in recreations their income would allow. Gays and Lesbians could come 'out'. The Youth culture could finally be loosed from contraints.This is a broad political, social and cultural history of one of the newest nations ever to be formed.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #856981 in Books
• Published on: 2002-09-20
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 408 pages

About the Author
Robert Service is the author of the trilogy Lenin: A Political Life - which is acknowledged as the definitve academic political biography of the man - and of Lenin: A Biography (Macmillan) and History of 20th Century Russia (Penguin), and numerous other books on Russian history.

Customer Reviews

Useful but looks as if it was written in a hurry
No book written only a decade after Russia's emergence as an independent state can do more than provide tentative conclusions as to how things may turn out. Robert Service acknowledges that but nevertheless delivers a pretty damning verdict on Boris Yeltsin's presidency, commenting that the opportunity for a genuine democratic corruption-free transformation of Russia has probably already been squandered. He may well be right, but his argument would be a lot stronger if he gave detailed examples of exactly how elections have been fixed, how the privatisation of the economy has been manipulated, and how the new legal framework has proved unsatisfactory. The reader needs more hard facts, and the holes in his account suggest he wrote this in rather a hurry. He asserts that most foreign journalists and other observers fail to convey a sense of what is happening across Russia's vast territory, preferring to concentrate on Moscow and the members of the Russian elite they know there. But this is a case of the pot and the kettle: there's not much close-to-the-ground detail in this book on Russia's far-flung provinces. There is enough solid analysis in Service's book to make it worth reading, but overall the opportunity for a good hard detailed look at contemporary Russia has probably been squandered.

Russian realities
This book gives real descriptions about the thoughts and ideas of ordinary Russians, the faceless people, the people you see walking in the streets, the people that had to go thru all the changes in the lives. A good description of what Russians thoughts and beliefs about life around them.

Having heard about all the experiences myself from my Russian girlfriend... beliefs.. black salaries, corruption, in goverment. I was there to get a small experience of it all for myself. This book gives accurate description of actual life in Russia.

Beliefs that wealthy people 'stole' money, corruption on every level of society, the unofficial bribes..

Having been to St Petersburg and small villages around the city I can assure you that a visit to Russia is well worth it. A complete cultural shock, but people that will welcome you in their homes. Down-to-earth and used to getting by with very littke, never complain about anything, very thankful for anything that comes their way.

if you have any interest in Russian history or have been following Russian affairs by the sideline, this book will give you the in-depth about what is current in Russia and in the minds of ordinary Russians.

No other country offers such good value for money for a tourist.. if you are with someone that can speak Russian that is ! Otherwise you will have to pay tourist price (double!) wich still is cheap compared to other European countries.
Russia is now unmistakenly capitalist. To find out how it all started, read this book.

Don't be put of by anything negative you ever heard about the Russia or Russians. It is a amazingly beautiful country with amazingly beautiful people, amzing beautufl nature scenes and beautiful cities, castles and palaces.

To experience Russian life, don't do it from a fancy hotel or a airconditioned tourbus. Be on the street, on the underground train, and in the house of an ordanry Russian family. You will come to appreciate what you have and see how people cope with the little they have.

For Russians, things can only get better.

Poka !

2007-07-29:
I've now been to St Petersburg 4 times. Living standards keep improving every year. Considering to study another foreign language ? Consider Russian, sure to be a economic superpower in the foreseeable future.