Customer Reviews

Capitalism Russian-Style

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This is book is very detailed in describing U.S.S.R.'s transitioin into the Russian Federation. Pretty much every flaw in the transition is talked about. I feel like i know nearly everything about Russia's switch to capitalism. The content of the book is great. Many interesting Russians were portrayed. It even talks about the earlier years of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the wealthy oil guy who has been in prison lately.

The problem is, the writing of the book sucks. The whole book is littered with spelling, punctuation and even capitalization errors. Some sentences are hard to understand and i had to re-read a couple times. The book is written like a bland textbook. There are too many times when the author asks you questions, then gives a list of answers. This destroys the flow of the book. This book made me fall asleep while reading many times. I had to read it a few pages at a time to avoid a coma. There are also many translations of Russian phrases and words that slows you down even more. You are snailing through the book and then you have to keep up with all the bouncing around between different times ranging from 1986 to 1999. The book may look thick when you first get it, but about 30 pages are bibliography and many pages have large (sometimes 20% of the page) footnotes at the bottom. I didnt even bother to read the footnotes since the book was already annoyingly slow to read. Out of about 30 books i have read in the past couple years, this might be the hardest to read.

Overall i would say its a good, unique book to read if you are really interested in Russia. If you are not really interested in Russia, then find something written better.

Thane Gustafson presents an overview of Russia's experiment with capitalism to date. In this well-documented, well-reasoned report, he describes the breakdown in the Soviet economy. This collapse was already in the works when Gorbachev's efforts to reform the system brought it tumbling down. Gustafson weaves his account together like a journalist, as he discusses the heady rush of capitalism, entrepreneurism, political corruption and crime that moved into Russia's economic vacuum like a modern gold rush. He carefully traces recent developments in Russia's attempt to recover from its 1998 financial disaster.

As the book describes, no one knows what will happen in Russia. Gustafson emphasizes that Russia cannot return to its command economy. The book offers cautious optimism for future business with Russia. However, the admitted uncertainty of Russia's future may frustrate readers who seek definitive answers. We at getAbstract.com recommend this book to readers interested in social and political developments and to academics as well as to executives of companies with economic interests in Russia, or those who may want to do future business there, although - for now - it may be a particularly risky venue.