Russia: Experiment with a People

Robert Service

Paperback

Out of stock

Do you recommend this book?

Yes!

Since the fall of communism, Russia has witnessed a dramatic struggle between old and new, continuity and change. Corruption and violence have plagued society. Most people have benefited little from the new capitalist order. But positive changes are evident. Russians can speak and act more freely in a state that no longer intrudes on their privacy. They are able to travel abroad, enjoy unprecedented access to information from around the world, and organize and campaign for improvement in their living conditions.

In this engrossing account Robert Service traces the formation of the new Russia from the end of the Soviet Union in 1991 to the present. He paints a fascinating picture of a people in metamorphosis. In wide-ranging discussions on topics from Kremlin politics to rock music and macroeconomics to contemporary poetry, Service takes us inside to witness the changes from both the top down and the bottom up. He examines the reforms of the Yeltsin and Putin administrations in the context of the complex communist legacy, deftly interweaving political history, intellectual thought, and popular consciousness to illuminate the real difficulties Russia has faced on its rocky path to reform.

For the second time in less than a century, the Russians have been engaged in a fundamental reshaping of their society, and the results will prove of vital importance to the global community. Robert Service has provided a valuable and engaging guide to their recent remarkable journey.

Book Details

Publisher: Harvard University Press
Publish Date: Apr 1st, 2006
Pages: 406
Language: English
Edition: undefined - undefined
Dimensions: 8.84in - 5.68in - 1.11in - 1.35lb
EAN: 9780674021082
Categories: • Russia - General

About the Author

Service, Robert: - Robert Service is a Fellow of the British Academy and Professor of Russian History at Oxford University.

Praise for this book

Service provides the most wide-ranging description yet of what has happened to Russia since it emerged from the rubble of the Soviet Union. Hardly an angle has been neglected, from the historical lineage of national identity and the residue of Soviet times to the excesses of popular culture and life in the village. The core of the book deals with politics: the character and failings of Russia's leaders, turning points in the struggle over reform, the manipulation of symbols and media, and relations between the center and outlying regions...It is a rich and variegated portrait of a wondrously complex society.

This is the story of a \"wasted historic opportunity\" and Professor Service tells it well... However the project of 1992 has been largely abandoned, and this book, more than any other I know on the period, will explain why. -- Beryl Williams "Russian Review"

ÝA¨ scholarly and well-informed survey of the first post-Soviet decade. -- Orlando Figes "New York Review of Books" (10/23/2003)

ÝService's¨ latest work, "Russia: Experiment With a People," is a balanced, thorough, thoughtful examination of Russia since the fall of Communism...Mr. Service's book isn't a quick read or an easy introduction to Russia. But it has the virtue of perspective, and he mixes a historian's scope with sharp observations about the last decade. -- Liena Zagare "New York Sun" (01/07/2004)

read or an easy introduction to Russia. But it has the virtue of perspective, and he mixes a historian's scope with sharp observations about the last decade.

the manipulation of symbols and media, and relations between the center and outlying regions...It is a rich and variegated portrait of a wondrously complex society.

[A] scholarly and well-informed survey of the first post-Soviet decade.--Orlando Figes"New York Review of Books" (10/23/2003)

[Service's] latest work, "Russia: Experiment With a People," is a balanced, thorough, thoughtful examination of Russia since the fall of Communism...Mr. Service's book isn't a quick read or an easy introduction to Russia. But it has the virtue of perspective, and he mixes a historian's scope with sharp observations about the last decade.--Liena Zagare"New York Sun" (01/07/2004)

[Service's] latest work, Russia: Experiment With a People, is a balanced, thorough, thoughtful examination of Russia since the fall of Communism...Mr. Service's book isn't a quick read or an easy introduction to Russia. But it has the virtue of perspective, and he mixes a historian's scope with sharp observations about the last decade.--Liena Zagare"New York Sun" (01/07/2004)

This is the story of a "wasted historic opportunity" and Professor Service tells it well...However the project of 1992 has been largely abandoned, and this book, more than any other I know on the period, will explain why.--Beryl Williams "Russian Review "