Midnight Diaries [Hardcover]

Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin (Author), Catherine A. Fitzpatrick (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 12, 2000

The first democratically elected leader of Russia--and the first ever to resign voluntarily--reviews his tumultuous years in office and the changes and challenges in his country.. Midnight Diaries is Boris Yeltsin's pithy, personal, and revealing account of the struggles and upheavals in Russia over the last several years, seen from the perspective of the man whose job it was to pull all the strings together. Growing out of a series of late-night conversations between Mr. Yeltsin and his chief of staff, the book addresses with astounding candor subjects including: the real impact of the coup of 1991; the process of decision-making about Chechnya; Yeltsin's relationships with world leaders including Bill Clinton, Helmut Kohl, Jacques Chirac, Zhao Zemin, and Tony Blair; the real story behind the string of prime ministers he hired and then dismissed; the Russian economy and allegations of corruption; his own health; and his decision to retire from the presidency. Vivid and direct in the style of Yeltsin himself, Midnight Diaries is an unprecedented look inside the tumultuous politics of a changing Russia. Its publication is an international publishing event.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The title of Yeltsin's third book lacks the messianic fire of his first two volumes, Against the Grain and The Struggle for Russia. An account of his embattled last four years in power, this memoir is more personal than political, offering reflection in place of justification. The publisher promises "an international publishing event," synchronizing its release in Russia, Europe and the U.S. The author's aim is less grandioseAto help "even in some small way to make sense of recent events." Whether an account so strongly selective in its retelling can be said to "make sense" out of what was a particularly murky tenure is debatable. What is more important, Yeltsin' diaries restores lucidity and morality to a man whose image was ravaged along with his body by a punishing second term. Here Yeltsin explains his calculated strategy behind the steady succession of governments that outwardly resembled a flailing executive. He devotes much time and candor to the psychological impact of physical deterioration and his resulting determination to reunite with his constituents despite single-digit approval ratings. There are some strange moments as well. Yeltsin says, for example, he received intelligence in 1996 of a plot by U.S. Republicans to undermine President Clinton by sending a beautiful young "provocateur" into his White House circle. This tip is characteristic of Yeltsin, who often included impulsive handwritten comments in his speeches that his aides had previously edited from the TelePrompTer. Not a monotonous list of dates, this thematically organized book is well written and enlightening. With a first serial in Newsweek and an interview with the author on 60 Minutes, Yeltsin's new diary should draw a larger readership than his first two. (Oct. 17)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

If Yeltsin seemed to have only sporadic control of his political situation during his second term as Russia's president, what with heart surgery, revolving-door prime ministers, a second war in Chechnya, and the collapse of the country's currency, he here strives to refute that impression. Amid the turmoil he relates, Yeltsin will frequently drop asides about his goals, which were to prevent a return to power of the communists, to foster a centrist-conservative political party, and to ensure a democratic succession upon his retirement. Consequently, much of the memoir, covering the years 1996-99, has Yeltsin sizing up potential successors and finding them wanting until he latched upon the chief of the domestic intelligence agency, ex-KGB officer Vladimir Putin. To counter the reputation of impulsiveness that process engendered, Yeltsin declares that he was an instinctual politician who relished surprising his opponents. He also has replies to critics who ascribe his erratic decisions to Kremlin intrigues of associates grabbing for power during Yeltsin's long absences from public view due to convalescence or even drunkenness. Of the latter, perhaps of more interest to Western readers than the ins-and-outs of recent Russian politics, Yeltsin allows he was inebriated once in public in 1994 (remember him "conducting" a German military band?) but since then has imbibed in moderation. Other digressions into his finances and family life personalize Yeltsin and add spice to a memoir that is significant as a first-person record of the first voluntary surrender of power in Russia's history. A suitable companion to Yeltsin: A Revolutionary Life by Leon Aron [BKL F 15 00]. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: PublicAffairs; 1 edition (October 12, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1586480111
• ISBN-13: 978-1586480110
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,300,724 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, but visibly one-sided, November 15, 2000

By 

Marko Mihkelson - See all my reviews

This review is from: Midnight Diaries (Hardcover)

Yeltsin's memoirs are without doubt interesting and necessary source for everybody who's looking to understand what really has happened in Russia during 90s. But unfortunately this is only half or even less of that what Yeltsin really could tell us. First of all, this is not of course Yeltsin who has written this book. Real authors are Valentin Yumashev, who is also author of Yeltsin's previous memoirs, and Tatyana Dyatchenko, Yeltsin's daugther. Reading this book you could find almost in every chapter how authors had tried to save Yeltsin's face for history. They succeeded if reader is not well informed about Russia. But for them who have lived this through, Yeltsin's book is too one-sided and not really trustful piece.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Clear and logical explanations to Russian politics, November 13, 2000

By 

Konstantin Dlutski (Moscow) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Midnight Diaries (Hardcover)

No wonder that this book attracted such negative reaction from 'experts' in Russian politics. What seemed almost to everyone as illogical, bizarre behavior of a senile tsar suddenly becomes clear, simple and logical. Yeltsin describes day by day his struggle for power since he started his presidential race with support of only 3% of popular support. As one reads the book it becomes evident that Yeltsin always had a very clear and realistic picture of what was happening around him. He could let people believe that he was too sick and weak to rule, watched who, how and when tried to get the power. Like a good hunter Yeltsin stoke deadly blows on his foes when they truely believed he was under their control. Yeltsin analyzes the situation, decides who's his friend or foe, plans his actions and acts without remorse. The book reads like a novel that unfolds the secrets of Russian under carpet bulldogs fighting.

4.0 out of 5 stars Surprisingly engaging--worth reading, January 4, 2011

By 

Katrina Ilich - See all my reviews

This review is from: Midnight Diaries (Hardcover)

Yeltsin's book was a pleasant surprise. The book certainly isn't slim, and when I picked it up, I anticipated a typically dry autobiography written in a prickly, defensive tone. Yeltsin, however, writes honestly, and rather than an arrogant drunkard, I saw a down-to-earth and somewhat perpetually-troubled man. Yeltsin mixes a daily diary with his documentation of some of the more publicized events--sex scandals, wars, and the like--to make a work that reads like a novel.

Now, the above isn't to say that this autobiography isn't biased, because it certainly is. Yeltsin glosses over certain issues and personal flaws, such as his exasperating penchant for dismissing prime ministers, aides, and all kinds of other government bureaucrats every few months. Yeltsin apparently has very high standards--though what, precisely, he's looking for in his personnel he never explains exactly--and a fondness for perfection that isn't readily apparent in media depictions of him. But keeping its one-sidedness in mind, we still see Yeltsin as a calculating commandeer, rather than a blathering puppet. Though he might have fallen to the latter in the latter part of his career, he definitely wasn't always so.

I believe the book is well worth reading, because, in my opinion, it is absolutely essential to examine history from as many viewpoints as possible. This is why I highly recommend reading autobiographies in general.

That being said, this book might not necessarily be for everyone. Because of Yeltsin's constantly-changing Kitchen Cabinet, there are myriads of names to keep track of, and most, being Russian, end in "ov," "ev," or "sky," which doesn't make them very conducive to being committed to memory. This is made more complicated by the fact that a full Russian name consists not of two names, but of three; a personal (given) name, a patronymic, and a surname. Though a character--in my following example, the Minster of the Interior--might be introduced as "Anatoly Sergeyevich Kulikov" for the first time, Yeltsin will subsequently refer to him as "Anatoly Sergeyevich," as is Russian custom.

For those new to Russian history and politics or simply unfamiliar with these older names, there is a useful chart featuring the names and descriptions of the "principal figures" available at the beginning of the book. I'd suggest dog-earing the page, as you will be referring to it often.

Politics aside, it's a good book written by a good man, and it has a permanent place on my shelf.