Russia

Experiment with a People

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by Robert Service

Harvard University Press

Due/Published August 2003, 432 pages, cloth

ISBN 0674012054

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 account, 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.

Review

On December 31, 1991, an event that seemed unimaginable just five years before occurred: the dissolution of the Soviet Union. With the end of communist rule, reformers and ordinary citizens in Russia envisioned a bright future characterized by universal civil rights, political democracy, a market society, ideological pluralism, cultural freedom, and civic nationhood. Unfortunately, many of these objectives were never realized, and corruption, violence, and a sense of disillusionment continue to pervade contemporary Russian society. Robert Service, Professor of Russian History at Oxford University, combines scholarly analysis and journalistic detail to examine the reasons behind and implications of Russia’s problems during the 1990s. He considers, among other things, the failures of Boris Yeltsin’s economic policies, the greed of Russian politicians and businessmen, a crooked political system, Putin’s authoritarianism, and the lack of a civic culture. Service’s discussion ranges from the decisions of policymakers to life in the provinces and offers a fascinating look at the breadth of Russian political, economic, and popular culture. He presents an expansive and nuanced look at life in Russia over the past decade and the ways in which the nation grapples with its tsarist and communist past. However, it is not all gloom and doom in Russia, and Service argues that despite reformers’ failures and the many obvious problems in Russian society gains have been made. More precisely, Russians now enjoy unprecedented levels of personal and intellectual freedom and the ability to cultivate a rich and rewarding private life. Service presents an unflinching look at the failures of politicians and the problems that continue to plague Russian society. However, his work also affords a rare look at various facets of Russian society and the ways in which the country struggles to chart its future.

Robin Blackburn writes, “Robert Service has written an informative and necessary book on the catastrophe that overtook Russia in the 1990s. It is a tribute to the author that he reaches conclusions at odds with his own earlier support for Boris Yeltsin, who ruled the country in these years. . . . Service has . . . produced a work that is thoughtful and pioneering. It illuminates almost every aspect of life in the new Russia with unexpected detail.”