Russians

For many years the world behind the Iron Curtain was a mystery. There were Sovietologists of all different kinds. One famous Daniel Bell essay gave I believe eight or so different basic ways of interpreting the Soviet Union. Hedrick Smith is a reporter and what he did in this outstanding work was to look into the ordinary life of Soviet society as far as he could. He explained then close to thirty years ago many of the anomalies of the system. And when I read the book then I felt I really was getting inside information into a hidden and highly significant world.

I cannot claim to be a student of Russian history, but I have always foudn the ironies and disconnects of Russian life interesting. I just read this book in 2004, and now understand today's headlines from Russia, and their nostalgia for the order of the brutal regimes that preceded the fall of the Soviet Union. This is, as someone else said, a classic, a must read, a requirement for anyone who needs to understand Russia. Don't worry about it being date; part of Russian culture is that they cling hopelessly to the old while being swept cruelly away by the new. The attitudes and longings portrayed in this book appear to still be the same.

It's really difficult to find a better book as an introduction to contemporary history. Now that the Berlin Wall has fallen, it's difficult for current generations of American university students to understand what Communism was like. Even current generations of Russian immigrants have difficulty remembering Communism. This book is a link to that history that couldn't be any more brilliant. That is why Mr. Hedrick's books continues to be one of the most commonly assigned books in Russian history and politics classes. The sequel "The New Russians" is updated to reflect the fall of Communism and the current morass (2000) that Russia is in now. Anykind of popular story or joke that I heard then was captured in this book. The best thing about the book is that Mr. Headrick wrote in a way that could be understood by the average American (meaning even my students could understand this book!). If you don't have much of a feel for what life was like in Russia when it was the USSR, then the "Russians" is your ticket to both understanding and getting a feel for life under Communism.

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union a decade ago, I have visited various parts of the former Soviet Union over a dozen times. What astonishes me about this book is that all that Smith reports so closely matches what I have seen and experienced on my visits to the Soviet empire. Though he wrote in the 1970s - long before the collapse of Communism - Smith has captured the essence of the country and its people in a way which is extremely readable and relevant today. It is the best book on Russia which I have read.

For anyone interested in how any of it's citizens can possibly feel nostalgia for the former Soviet Union, or why so many others chose a political path towards democracy, this book is indispensable. Much of what is occurring now in Russian politics and culture can be traced back to conditions presented here. This is a magnificent portrait of a country which didn't allow portraits. Those willing to overlook a few Cold War cliches have to agree that this book is a classic.