But the heroic images of Boris Yeltsin atop a tank in front of Moscow's White House soon turned to grim new realities: a currency in freefall and a war in Chechnya; on the street, flashy new money and a vicious Russian mafia contrasted with doctors and teachers not receiving salaries for months at a time. If this was what capitalism brought, many Russians wondered if they weren't better off under the communists.This new society did not just appear ready-made: it was created by a handful of powerful men who came to be known as the oligarchs and the young reformers. The oligarchs were fast-talking businessmen who laid claim to Russia's vast natural resources. The young reformers were an elite group of egghead economists who got to put their wild theories into action, with results that were sometimes inspiring, sometimes devastating. With unparalleled access and acute insight, Chrystia Freeland takes us behind the scenes and shows us how these two groups misused a historic opportunity to build a new Russia. Their achievements were considerable, but their mistakes will deform Russian society for generations to come.Along with a gripping account of the incredible events in Russia's corridors of power, Freeland gives us a vivid sense of the buzz and hustle of the new Russia, and inside stories of the businesses that have beaten the odds and become successful and profitable. She also exposes the conflicts and compromises that developed when red directors of old Soviet firms and factories yielded to -- or fought -- the radically new ways of doing business. She delves into the loophole economy, where anyone who knows how to manipulate the new rules can make a fast buck. Sale of the Century is a fascinating fly-on-the-wall economic thriller -- an astonishing and essential account of who really controls Russia's new frontier.

    The theremin--the only musical instrument that is played without being touched--created a sensation worldwide and paved the way for the modern synthesizer. But the otherworldly sound that entranced millions was only part of Theremin's epic life. As a Soviet scientist, Theremin surrendered his life and work to the service of State espionage. On assignment in Depression-era America, he worked the engines of capitalist commerce while passing data on US industrial technology to the Soviet apparat. Following his sudden disappearance in 1938, Theremin vanished into the top-secret Soviet intelligence machine and was presumed dead for nearly thirty years. Using the same technology that spawned the theremin, he designed bugging devices and a host of other electronic wonders, including an early television and multimedia devices that anticipated performance art and virtual reality by decades. Albert Glinsky's biography places the inventor at world events stretching from the Russian Revolution through the Cold War to perestroika. Throughout, he spins whimsy and treachery into an astonishing drama of one man's hidden loyalties, mixed motivations, and irrepressibly creative spirit.

    Antonio Giustozzi explores the military, political, and social strategies of the predominantly urban and Marxist regime as it struggled--and ultimately failed--to win the support of a largely rural and Islamic population.Drawing on many Soviet materials not previously used by Western writers, including unpublished Red Army documents and interviews with participants, Giustozzi provides valuable new insights into the cold war and the rise of Islamic revolt.

    a book of signal significance” (The Saturday Review) “gives a vivid picture of (Soviet) courts at work, and therefore, since it is very good reporting, as sharp a picture of (Soviet) life and people... it is an entrancing book.” (The Economist) “The most vivid reportage in years.” —The New Statesman Extraordinary, compelling (and) an inspired achievement,” (The London Listener) it is “the most interesting, perceptive and refreshing book by an American on life in the Soviet Union since time out of mind.” (Newsweek)

    This book explains how the "Russian reading myth" took hold in the 1920s and 1930s, how it was supported by a monopolistic and homogenizing system of book production and distribution, and how it was challenged in the post-Stalin era: first, by the latent expansion and differentiation of the reading public, and then, more dramatically, by the economic and cultural changes of the 1990s.

    Early reviews have hailed this book as "one of the best attempts so far" to analyze the errors in theory and practice, along with imperialist pressures, that dismantled the first socialist union of states.Azad employs a consistent scientific methodology as a framework for his discussion, one that is helpful to the average reader.Over many years of economic research, the author viewed the unsolved problems of the socialist societies much as one sees flaws in the space shuttle program, or the latest plane -- these represent the present limits of humanity's achievements in their respective fields.There is much to learn from the facts and processes discussed in this book, and in turn, these will prompt additional questions and further study.