Russia by Robert Service

Russia by Robert Service

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.

[A] scholarly and well-informed survey of the first post-Soviet decade-- Orlando Figes New York Review of Books 20031023 [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 20040107 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. Foreign Affairs 20040101 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

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

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780674021082
ISBN 10	0674021088
Title	Russia
Author	Robert Service
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Harvard University Press
Year published	2006-04-01
Number of pages	432
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable