Yeltsin: A Revolutionary Life

Every student of Russia should read this book. Aron masterfully captures the ambiguities of Russian politics, culture, and history as they relate to Yeltsin's life. Yeltsin comes off as a highly sympathetic personality - flawed but with the greatest of intentions. Aron also tackles the legacy of Yeltsin's life before his voluntary exit from the Presidency and elegantly captures the essence of Yeltsin's legacy: "The sublime pleasures and terrifying responsibilities of Unsupervised Life are Russia's at last." (p. 738) Yeltsin's capacity to trust others to do what was right and to tolerate criticism and chaos for the greater good of liberty stands in stark contrast to Putin's "managed democracy." I agree with Aron's implied assertion that history will be a more equitable judge of Yeltsin's life than will the shrill voices of his contemporaries.

I think the author is trying to say the problems that plauged Russia after the collapse of the USSR was not all Yeltsin's fault. The IMF did not help matters nor did the former Communists who used their positions to loot the economy during privatization. Yeltsin too was a bit of a populist and as often happens populists make romantic rebels but horrible rulers. In the end the USSR was destroyed by the stupid 8 coup plotters who could not grasp the Soviet Union was not Guatemala and a coup in such a vast country was hopeless. The Republics were willing to sign the new union treaty but not after the coup. I was not fan of Gorbachev but history has proven he was right. If he had been allowed to do his program the USSR would still exists, and that whole region would be much more prosperous and stable than today.

The timing of this thorough, scholarly journey through the life of one of the twentieth century's true world historical figures is unfortunate. Released in mid 1999, it misses the final, and decidedly pivotal, story of Boris Yeltsin's last months in power, when he finally identified a worthy successor to carry the standard for free markets, democratic process, and rule of law in the erstwhile authoritarian Russian state. After gamely ushering the reader through the (almost literally)heart-stopping crises and byzantine political intrigues of Yeltin's career, the book ends with the ailing president mired in the financial debacle of 1998, running out of time and options, and forced to play ball with his reactionary Prime Minister. Luckily we all know how the story played out in the end, with Yeltsin's dramatic New Year's resignation and the ascension of Vladimir Putin to the presidency. As the reader comes to know Yeltsin in the course of this book, the scope of his political genius and daring reveals itself so plainly and effectively that this reader yearned to know something about why Putin impressed him to the point of bequeathing his legacy to him. Nonetheless, as a work of history rather than political evaluation, "Yeltsin: A Revolutionary Life", succeeds broadly in demonstrating the varied levels of its subject's titanic efforts to transform a near-death society into something which may well one day become a great nation. Yeltsin's successes unfold on three levels. The first, and most central to the book, is the defeat and dismantling of the inhuman Stalinist Soviet society which had strangled Russia for sixty years or more. This astounding victory set the stage for Yeltsin's assumption of the presidency, after full and free elections, and the various political victories he achieved over the course of his two terms in office. Finally, and probably most importantly for Russia and the rest of the world, Yeltsin began an irreversible process in this country for the first time in its history: a drive toward private property, free prices, and enterprise which began the nation's slow march into the community of liberal-minded societies. The book does a fine job of demonstrating the ruthless personal drive which propelled Yeltsin to greatness. From his early days in the semi-Siberian city of Sverdlosk, when he blew two fingers off his left hand while stealing munitions from a factory on a dare from some teenage friends, the author paints a vivid portrait of a budding iconoclast. This reader yearned for more about these formative years, but the thinness here is understandable, given the opaque nature of Soviet style historical documentation. The inner workings of the communist maze confounded Yeltsin as much as is does the reader--it's a truly incomprehensible system, and makes for slow going sometimes as we follow Yeltsin on his journey of discovery. It becomes exciting as his speeches start to reflect his sense of the wast

As a resident of Moscow during the last three years of the Soviet Union, and a frequent visitor ever since, I witness first-hand many of the events that are described in this book. However, much of the information on the inner workings that went on behind the scenes were, of course, unknown to me. I also did not know much about Yeltsin's Sverdlovsk days. This book provides a thrilling account of all these things, and proves to be a very easy read (particularly if you are somewhat familiar with the material and don't have to decipher the Russian terms). The editing of the book could be a bit better, but the material stands on its own and should be a must-read for anyone with an abiding interest in the goings-on in Russia. It's only too bad that the book was finished before the emergence of V. Putin and Yeltsin's resignation at the end of last year.

With the luxury of hindsight Leon Aron has written an essential piece of scholarship on arguably the late 20th century's most important leader. However, don't let the term 'scholarlship' scare you : while this volume is immeresed in facts, it remains readable throghout. This accesiblity is due in large part to Aron's fluid writing style. Besides being an authoriative look at its subject's fascinating life, the book accomplishes an even bigger achievement that every great biography should strive for : It puts its subject in context to his times. When that happens ( as it certainly does here) the reader is the beneficary and a whole new world of knowledge is opened. It can be argued the Russian Revolution was the most important event of the 20th Century. Therefore, it would make sense that the leader of that country at the end of the century brings events full circle. This wonderful book does that leader justice as much is learned throughout its pages in terms of Yeltin's background, public life, and personal philosophy. I can't recommend this book enough to those interested in Yeltsin, Russia, or the even broader topic of the history of the twentieth century and beyond.