Dispatches from the Former Evil Empire [Hardcover]

Richard Threlkeld (Author), Walter Cronkite (Author), Betsy Aaron (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 2000

For almost three years, as Moscow Correspondent for CBS News, Richard Threlkeld was a close observer of the scene inside Russia and many of its old Soviet allies. This broad canvas of a book is his engaging memoir of life in the remains of the former Soviet Empire during the waning years of Boris Yeltsin's regime. Through colourful vignettes the reader is taken from the crime-ridden Wild, Wild East of Siberia to the glitzy casino world of the new Russian rich in Moscow. Along the way we visit the mountain people of Azerbaijan, some of whom at age 120 are still alive and well, and native Arctic tribes in the far North of Russia, who still live much as America's Sioux or Cheyenne did two centuries ago. Equally fascinating are the characters who people the murky world of Kremlin politics.This book goes behind the scenes to chronicle the decline of "Czar Boris" as well as the intrigues of Russia's new Rasputin, financier Boris Berezovsky and his ally, Yeltsin's ambitious and wilful daughter Tatyana. But the real heroes and heroines of this story are the ordinary Russians, long-suffering as always: The Kuzbass coalminers who line up for cold cuts in lieu of a paycheck; the rural schoolteacher who every day stoically instructs her shivering and hungry students; and the fellow in Zaraisk who took his son with him into the voting booth to show the boy "how this democracy idea works". Threlkeld depicts a fascinating, sprawling land where the funny and the tragic are ever side by side. And as with everything in Russia, it is all larger than life.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In a series of brief snapshots, Threlkeld, CBS's former correspondent in Moscow, provides a surprisingly comprehensive portrait of life in contemporary Russia. Threlkeld handles the familiar troubles the economic woes, the political corruption, the nouveau riche in a breezy, journalistic style that makes what can be a difficult subject accessible to the general reader ("Russians are yearning for some kind of raison d'etre that doesn't melt into thin air"). Indeed, virtually no aspect of the decrepit Russian society, whether post-Soviet medicine or the Russian Orthodox Church, goes untouched. But some of the book's strongest moments come when Threlkeld investigates more obscure topics. His description of the oil boomtown of Baku, Azerbaijan a combination of the Hamptons and Istanbul, with oil derricks thrown in lingers in the mind. Despite the difficulties he describes, Threlkeld remains surprisingly optimistic about Russia's chances: "Russians are survivors who've had to triumph over everything from the Black Death to Bolshevism.... And I've no doubt that, given time, this new experiment forced on this new generation of Russians will succeed." Threlkeld generally treats many things Russian with a gentle exasperation typical of a sympathetic outsider. Occasionally, his familiarity with his subject and his unblushing anti-Soviet stance borders on smugness: he derides Soviet-era "Kremlinologists" who "would speculate for months on the meaning of who was standing next to whom," seeming to forget our vulturous propensity in this country for feeding on quasi-political gossip and speculation. Readers may not share Threlkeld's high hopes for capitalism in Russia, but they will learn a great deal about the country's "challenges."

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School-Threlkeld, the CBS news correspondent in Russia from June 1996 through December 1998, kept a computer journal of his thoughts and impressions. Those impressions form the basis for these 43 dispatches. In the tradition of television journalism, the essays are succinct. Most are human-interest stories that give readers glimpses into the lives of the Russian people after the fall of Communism. The author finds Russians who seem to epitomize the essence of the country today, from Alexi, a coal miner from Kuzbass whom the government can no longer pay a salary and is left to live on "promises, promises," to Mrs. Sarzonova of Zaraisk, who on election day tells Threlkeld, "If we're going to make life better for ourselves, it's up to us, and voting is part of it."-Judy McAloon, Potomac Library, Prince William County, VA

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 295 pages
• Publisher: Prometheus Books (November 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1573929042
• ISBN-13: 978-1573929042
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #875,795 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dispatches from the Former Evil Empire, May 30, 2001

By 

Marcia A. Pollioni (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dispatches from the Former Evil Empire (Hardcover)

Richard Threlkeld spent 25 years as a foreign correspondent, covering war and peace, triumph and tragedy for CBS and ABC. He was CBS's Man in Moscow from 1996 to 1999. His 43 "dispatches" paint a vivid picture of life and work in the former Soviet Union. He combines history, journalism and the best kind of travelogue in a memoir that entertains and educates. Threlkeld listens to the heartbeat of the nascent Russian democracy. He describes the voters in the old town of Zaraisk who bring their children to the polls, so they'll learn to vote when they grow up. His humor rivals P.J. O'Rourke's as he reads us the traffic signs in Moscow ("No turns between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. except for vehicles that are not trucks") and takes us to a restored hotel in Vladivostok ("There's a casino on the thrid floor but no drawers or closets in the rooms.") Whether he is reporting on the tax-free investments of the Russian Orthodox Church or the habits of Azerbaijani Talish centenarians, Threlkeld delivers the good news and the bad, the heartbreak and the hope of this enormous and amazing new Russia. His journalism is insightful, trustworthy and eminently readable.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Look Over the Shoulder, September 15, 2001

By 

Richard Hemingson (Colebrook, CT USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Dispatches from the Former Evil Empire (Hardcover)

The word "former" appears many times in Threlkeld's book, but don't let that fool you. This book is as timely as any writen on Russian Republic. The author is smart and sensitive and what he saw in the late 1990's is indispensable to an understanding of Russia today. The Moscow Christmas described in chapter four, for example, is a brilliant account of a people who are revisiting old traditions after 70 years of Communist rule. The Russians are paying a terrible price for their mistakes, but one can see how these stoic and determined people will bring about the birth of a new Nation from the wreckage of the Soviet Union.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Much Needed Book, April 11, 2007

By 

Carol Troestler (Prairie du Sac, WI United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Dispatches from the Former Evil Empire (Hardcover)

Richard Threlkeld's writing skills are outstanding, showing what an asset he was to CBS before he retired. The book is a book about the Russian people, how they are living, how they are dealing with the government and the changes in their country. Richard writes about living in Moscow, visiting villages where there were many people over 100 years old, the plight of the miners, and even ventures out to Cuba where he went to cover the Pope's visit. Although life in Russia at this time has many difficulties, Richard speaks of a people who are survivors, but want things to improve without the bloodshed that has accompanied changes in the past. The book was written about Richard's life there in the late 1990s, and I couldn't help but want to know about life there in the present and have hopes that these people will indeed develop a society where there is good medical care, education and employment opportunities.

Carol Troestler
Author, Flow On Sweet Missouri