Broken Empire : After the Fall of the USSR [Hardcover]

Gerd Ludwig (Author), Fen Montaigne (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2001

On December 25, 1991, at 7:35 p.m., soldiers lowered the red Soviet flag flying over the Kremlin and raised the new blue, white and red Russian tri-color in its place. The ceremony occurred with no fanfare, witnessed only by a few dozen tourists who stood on the cobblestones of Red Square in a light snow and applauded when the hammer and sickle disappeared. It was an inglorious end for a regime that had, in many ways, defined the 20th century. Christmas, 2001, is the tenth anniversary of the demise of the Soviet Union, and National Geographic will commemorate the event with the publication of Broken Empire, a photography book that examines the turbulent first decade of Russia's rebirth. The photographs are by Gerd Ludwig, who has shot numerous stories in the Soviet Union and Russia for National Geographic magazine, including articles on the Trans-Siberian Railway, pollution in the former USSR, and Moscow. The essays are by Fen Montaigne, who, as Moscow correspondent for The Philadelphia Inquirer, witnessed the end of the USSR and has since returned regularly to Russia for National Geographic magazine. In photographs and words, Ludwig and Montaigne will look not only at the wrenching changes that have swept Russia in the past 10 years, but also at the direction Russian society is heading in the future. The media has paid much attention to the chaos, corruption and hardship that have accompanied the birth of the new Russia. But anyone who knows the country well also understands that there is another side to the story, and that a younger generation - particularly in the big cities - is building a new, more prosperous society. Through the eyes of ordinary Russians, Ludwig and Montaigne will portray these various facets of Russia today. They will draw on some of their previous work, as well as months of travel, now underway, as they prepare an article for National Geographic magazine on Russia today.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: National Geographic (November 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0792264320
• ISBN-13: 978-0792264323
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 10.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #129,855 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #23 in Books > Travel > Asia > Russia
  • #47 in Books > Arts & Photography > Photography > Photojournalism

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent photography, but., January 18, 2003

By 

"confucius4thought" (portland, org United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Broken Empire : After the Fall of the USSR (Hardcover)

Gerd Ludwig photography is first-class but I wish written text had been as creative as the photographer's eye. Nothing to discredit the author, Fen Montaigne. But Fen, must you be so boring and bland. A single image captured a thousand words and your text was a dreadful mono-tone grounded in a yawning choice of vocabulary.

If your looking for images and insight text read "The Home Planet" by Kevin W Kelley. Two different subject matters, but the written text illustrates where this book went astray.

5.0 out of 5 stars WOW! What a great book., January 27, 2009

By 

J. Williams (La Puente, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Broken Empire : After the Fall of the USSR (Hardcover)

This is just the book I've been looking for. I've bought other books on Russia that explained the change from communism to capitalism but they only told how it affected the government. I wanted to know how it affected the people. This book does that. Although there is a lot of text, there are a lot of pictures. Between the two, it tells the story. The only thing is I wish it was more recent. It was published in 2001. I'm sure some more recent stories have been put out by the author in the National Geographic Magazine. I strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in Russia and geography.

5.0 out of 5 stars A timely primer for a resurgent super power, December 18, 2008

By 

Sandra Rossani "A customer" (Rochester, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Broken Empire : After the Fall of the USSR (Hardcover)

Having always been fascinated by Russia - my curiosity piqued by its reemergence as a global superpower - I was very glad to discover this book. Surprisingly, it was the only photographic account I could find of the vast socio-economic changes in the region since the demise of the Soviet Union. The fact that Ludwig, a German born photojournalist residing in Los Angeles, was able to capture such an intimate, knowledgeable, and compassionate portrait of a largely closed society is worthy of praise. While his coverage of Russia during and after the Soviet Empire includes an unflinching account of the many cultural and ecological atrocities committed by its leaders, his viewpoint remains balanced - a welcome change from the frankly one-dimensional stance often imposed by a lingering Red Menace wary West. Ludwig's photographs - almost exclusively of people experiencing the joys, tragedies, and challenges of everyday life - offer a unique window into the Russian soul. His images are complex and often emotional, yet unencumbered by sentiment, reminding us that the true identity of a nation lives in the hearts and minds of its people.

While there have been many changes in the region since the book's publication in 2001, Ludwig's work lays the sociological groundwork necessary for outsiders to grasp the effects of the warp speed transformation that continues to rock Russia today. Hopefully his more recent coverage, some of which continues to be published by National Geographic Magazine, will again find its way collectively into book form. I for one would like to better understand the true heart of this still mysterious and increasingly powerful nation.