Lenin's Tomb : The Last Days of the Soviet Empire

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Summary: Deserving of the Pulitzer it won; but don't be scared by it.
Review: Remnick won the Pulitzer for this unwrapping of 70 plus years of communist control of a collection of nations. In depth, he discusses the purges, the environment and events that allowed them to occur, the Russian view of the Patriotic War (WWII), the rise and fall of communism. Communism was doomed from the start. Here, Remnick explains exactly why. The Russian people are wonderful, I've met many of them. This book also gives the reader an understanding of the world in which they grew up. A world where Stalin was (literally) God. A world without independent thought. Fascinating, heart wrenching. Very readable.

Rating:
Summary: Soviet Tocqueville
Review: Remnick writes eloquently and grippingly. He amazes the reader with one heartbreaking vignette after another. It seems amazing that, though while only spending a few years in Russia, he seemingly met everybody who was anybody and traveled to the remotest parts of the dying empire.

Remnick does not try hard, unfortunately, to maintain objectivity. He deifies much of the intellectual dissident movement, even repeatedly callling Andrei Sakharov a "saint." Remnick turns Gorbachev into nothing more than a well-meaning Pandora, responsible for and unable to control the breakup of the Soviet Union.

Remnick does show what I believe to be responsible for the breakup of the USSR- namely the rot, corruption and inefficiency endemic in the Soviet system- but he seemingly relegates it to symptomatic and not primary status. The empire would have inevitably broken up with or without Perestroika and Glasnost. The book should rank, despite its flaws, among the best books of contemporary history ever written-doing for Russia what Democracy in America did for the US.

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Summary: The Secret behind the Moscow Coup
Review: Remnick's book is easily the most graphic and accurate account in English of the Gorbachev years between 1985 and 1991. It is unlikely to be surpassed. I judge his accuracy from his account of the August 1991 putsch, which is excellent given the information that was available. As the renegade agent that triggered the June 'constitutional coup', KGB Chief Kryuchkov's August 6th decision to draft coup documents AND the August 14th decision to again start drafting the documents, I have referred to Remnick in my research on the coup and the events that lead up to it. Suffice it to say that Kryuchkov's final decision on August 14th was triggered by the Bulgarian President, who fired the two KGB appointees at the head of his intelligence service, at my instigation. I had disclosed to him some intelligence secrets that compromised both the KGB and the British MI6, and proved that his intelligence chiefs were communist puppets, which was hardly surprising since Presidents Bush and Gorbachev had agreed to leave Bulgaria in the Soviet sphere of interest at Malta in June 1989. Like a lot of people in Bulgaria, I disagreed with that decision. One of the best ways of judging the accuracy of a book like Remnick's is to see how the information given in the book dovetails with the secret stuff, and his book does so nicely.

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding
Review: Remnick's frank, insightful analysis of the Soviet Union's final days filled me with inspiration and sadness. I'm inspired by the inhuman perseverance of the Russian and Soviet bloc people and saddened by the intense and lethal persecution of millions at the hands of their so-called leaders. Remnick shows a society led by decades of fear - citizens who feared persecution and leaders who feared the loss of power. The author flows easily from dissecting the Communist party and power brokers of Soviet society to eating cabbage with Siberian miners who don't expect to live past 35 to intense discussions with the Russian intelligentsia who fought the system quietly and desperately. It is a long book and at times I found myself needing a Russian history reference guide. But Remnick is not writing a history filled with facts and statistics. It is all about the people. Lenin's Tomb should be read by any journalist who feels the urge to go beyond 8 graphs. Truly wonderful.

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Summary: The Inevitability of Democracy and Freedom
Review: Remnick's prose makes this history/political science book both readable and entertaining. Arguing that the country's downfall was due to the Soviet leaderships' ongoing assault against its country's collective historical memory and it's feeble attempts to give the country just enough perestroika and glastnost to keep it at bay are chronicled in a series of chapters or themes. Ironically, the limited attempts by Gorbachev to instill some democratic themes was just enough to whet the populace's appetite for more and set the country on a road it could not turn back from. Interestingly, Remnick argues that Gorbachev was at heart, a true communist who only wanted to make adjustments, not change the whole system. One gleans from this whole book that in a modern world, democratization of the body politic is inevitable, once its processes are set in motion. Though the author focuses very little on outside influences contributing to the USS's demise, i.e. the cold war or "evil empire" policies of the U.S. he has written the most compelling account of the country's downfall as orchestrated from within its borders and i nthe process graphically illustrated the moral degradation and vacousness of communisim, its practitioners, and the suffering endured by its people. The Soviet Union was essentially a Third World Country with a first world military, over 80% of the population lived in squalor equal to most thirld world citizens. A stupendous book!

Rating:
Summary: Vivid account of the supremely confused time
Review: The book is a compilation of short stories (each chapter a dozen pages or so) about the author's first-hand experiences in the Gorbachev's Soviet Union. From Baltic to Sakhalin and from coal miners to Gorbachev himself, from Stalin to Yeltsin and from Solzhenitsyn to Sakharov, the book paints the picture of the monolith's fall. This colorful collage describing the critical period in Russian history, combined with keen commentary, creates for the reader the distinct flavor of the time.

For Russia, it was the age of confusion and disillusionment. Gorbachev's half-hearted reforms (the interest in truth ended where the Party interests were concerned, the pursuit of democracy gave way to the pursuit of the runaway republics etc.) were matched by the half-hearted '91 coup (no real plan, no propaganda with the military, Lenin wouldn't have approved).

For generations, Russian people did not know much of the sad history of their country and less still about the life in the West. The blissful ignorance was one thing that helped them in their miserable existence. Their various degrees of belief in the grand ideals were the other. With glasnost, Gorbachev aimed at opening the gates of truth while preserving the faith. In all honesty, it was impossible: the foundation for the faith was thoroughly rotten and relaxing the state control of mass media could only reveal it. All of a sudden, millions of people had to face hard evidence showing that the glorious history of their country never was. That the Bolshevik revolution was but a ruthless coup followed by a bloody terror. That many national heroes, all the way to Lenin, were privilege- and power-hungry maniacs. The Russian people had to go (and are still going) through an incredible adjustment of their understanding of right and wrong, brought about by a mere possibility of truth in the phrase of Molotov (himself not the most impeccable politician): "Compared to Lenin Stalin was a mere lamb". Similarly, it was a hard realization for many a soviet man that in the late 80's "an average Soviet had to work 10 times longer than the average American to buy a pound of meat". The full awareness of their tragic history and miserable reality must make it so much more difficult for Russian people to live in the country which is overwhelmingly corrupt, lawless and poor.

Remnick's parents and in-laws, all four having escaped from the old empire, could not imagine going back even for a visit, apparently having no faith in the Russian democratic changeover. On the other side of the ocean, the Russian military colonel excavating the Katyn massacre site, by disobeying direct orders from a KGB general to stop the work, believed in the prevalence of positive change in Russia. Today's Russia, with its authoritarian government and shady political and legal process, still leaves its democratic future a matter of faith.

By way of some criticism, Gorbachev brought about an incredible change. His glasnost and personal presence revived the anemic (or galvanized the non-existent) political forces unheard of in a largely Brezhnev-era Russia. He fought many of the first battles alone. The book does not make a case for that. Glasnost provided food for the hungry Soviet mind, but perestroika, restructuring, was supposed to change the way Soviet people live. The book could have benefited from taking on perestroika in some detail.

Overall, very enjoyable and engaging.

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Fabulous
Review: This book is one of those books that captured your attention from the beginning to the end. What differentiates this book from other books about Russia is the author's ability to convey to us the mood, the essence of a country that was in the brink of collapse & to be revived as a brand new country. It is also one of those books that is difficult to be summarised in a few words but rather, it has to be read to be appreciated. This work depicts Russia as a country with turbulent & troubled histories, occupied by citizens, some who were proud of its past glories (particularly its victory over the Facism in the war with Germany during World War 2, its Great Empire's status and a superforce to be reckoned with in the past) & would shed their bloods for the glory of their nation, some who opted for the stability of the past when Communism seemed to promise that everybody is going to be looked after, some who are anxious to be caught on with the rest of the world. For an ex-Communist country that tried to catch up with the West, shamelessly influenced by capitalism for as long as we can remember, it has to overcome its steep learning curve. Growing pains such as emergence of mafias instead of enterpreneurs surfaced, corruptions, civil wars, & so forth. A few chapters in the book are highly interesting such as the rise & fall of Gorbachev (clearing the myths about him, & conveying him as what a politician should be), the emergence of Yeltsin & despite their differences, both of them deservedly win their places in history. Moreover, there are also chapters about common people who are living in God forsaken places with no basic necessities such as clean air, indoor plumbing, heating system that actually works, intellectuals who wanted to bring out the correct version of Russia's history so that they could learn from the past & evolve from there to better beings but alas, it wasn't meant to be, writers like Sakharov, Solzhenitsyn who dared to write of the truths for the love of their nation with total disregard of their own safety, people who were killed in the millions during Stalin's reign & Stalin as a person, Khruschev, Brezhnev, coup-de-etat that was supposed to clean up the mess that Gorbachev had created but subsequently, it was deemed as a farce in its own right, & so forth. A substantial book that enlightens me about the plight of Russia & a book that is definitely worth reading in this lifetime. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Lenin's Tomb : The Last Days of the Soviet Empire
Review: this book should be a text book for those studying soviet history. the author assumes that the reader is very well informed--certainly better informed that i am. he drops names that are mostly meaningless and impossible to put into context! his vocabulary is beyond the college level. do you know the word "ramify"? i didn't.
but the positive side is that remnick has done remarkable research. he has put himself into situations that have put him at risk. his descriptions are graphic and frightening. he is courageous.
i read the first half, but couldn't continue. it is part of my too hard file.

Rating:
Summary: Reads like a novel...
Review: Well-deserved pulitzer prize winner, exposed me to a lot of new thinking about the soviet system (I'm admittedtly nothing close to a russian history scholar), and it captures the excitement of the '89-'91 period of revolution. Very insightful.

Rating:
Summary: horror stories from a Cold War childhood
Review: Wouldn't it be great if everything the Department of Education decided American children should learn in school about the U.S.'s international rivals were true? This book reminded me of my impressions of the Soviet Union when I was in elementary school. Now that I have lived in the former Soviet Union for some time, though, I feel that I have a more balanced perspective than the page-turning, thrilling portrait Remnick paints for us.

It cannot be denied that some of the past century's most horrible developments did indeed occur within the borders of the then Soviet Union. At the same time, Remnick's simplistic and gray portrayal of Soviet society corresponds all too neatly to what I was taught about our then enemy in elementary school. Soviet society was both colorful and complex, and cannot be painted in the blase framework of ruling minority vs. oppressed masses, KGB vs. human rights activists, etc etc etc.

This is a successful work of journalism, which, unfortunately, means that it is a poor portrayal of reality.