Russia's Fate Through Russian Eyes: Perspectives of a New Generation [Hardcover]

Heyward Isham (Author), Natan M. Shklyar (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 2000 | ISBN-10: 0813338662 | ISBN-13: 978-0813338668 0

Blowing the cobwebs from antiquated notions of Russia as an enigmatic nation doomed to tragic failure, twenty-eight articulate and entrepreneurial young Russian men and women--representatives of a new generation who came of age during and after the fall of the Soviet Union--record the hopes, fears, and triumphs of recent years. These trailblazers share stories of the very specific actions they and others like them have taken to move Russia toward a more civilized, responsible, and vibrant society. They describe their efforts to reshape the Russian state, cope with the new economic rules, strive toward a rule of law, build a civil society, and preserve Russian culture while modernizing its educational system. They paint a picture of a society borne up in its many travails by a stubborn will to survive and by a capacity to adapt ingeniously and swiftly to changes, both welcome and unwelcome.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

It is often said that the rich, the educated, and the successful write history, and so it is with this highly readable collection. Isham, a 35-year veteran of the U.S. Foreign Service and a former political and economics officer in Berlin, Moscow, and Hong Kong, has asked 28 articulate and entrepreneurial young Russian men and women to record their impressions of the past ten years. All but two or three of the essayists have doctorates from Russian universities. Nearly all of the writers recognize the yoke that 70 years of communism and the unique Russian spirit have put on the engine of new reforms in Russia. While recognizing the limitations of Russian culture, these writers are, to a person, positive about changing Russia from heavy industry to an information society. Recommended for academic and public libraries.DHarry Willems, Southeast Kansas Lib. Syst., Iola
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"Russia's Fate Through Russian Eyes makes an important contribution to the West's understanding of the profound disorientation which the political, economic, and social upheavals have had on the lives of ordinary Russian citizens. These essays by rising young leaders of the post-Soviet generation, as yet largely unknown in the West, speak with unusual candor of the frustrations and deprivations, the loneliness and yeaming for leadership that pervade all regions and walks of life. Heyward Isham has provided valuable insight into the issues that must be faced by the architects of Russia's future." Henry A. Kissinger

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Westview Press (November 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813338662
• ISBN-13: 978-0813338668
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,486,497 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars In Their Own Words, March 1, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Russia's Fate Through Russian Eyes: Perspectives of a New Generation (Hardcover)

What I appreciated most about Heyward Isham's Russia's Fate Through Russian Eyes: Voices of the New Generation was its appealingly fresh tone. Russia-watchers like myself are continually frustrated by Western representations and misrepresentations of this fascinating, nuanced nation.

According to many reports, one would think that all Russians were vodka-swilling philosophers, world-weary sex goddesses, or gold-chained criminals. Obviously, these elements are present in Russian life, as indeed they are elsewhere, but the sheer complexity of this country is glossed over when the West reduces its understanding of Russians to simple categories and tired stereotypes.

What Heyward Isham has managed to do so beautifully in this anthology is allow the contributors to discuss their own lives in their own words. In doing so, he blows the tired stereotype of the "passive, lazy Russian" to smithereens.

I don't know if I've ever read as eloquent and evocative an essay as Olga Lobyzeva's discussion of Russia's Far North. It reads like a love affair. Theater director Vladimir Mirzoev provides a fascinating dialogue on the state of art in the New Russia the likes of which I've never seen anywhere, either. Frankly, some of the pieces on tax reform and labor laws left me a bit cold, but just listen to Nadezhda Azhgikhina talk about feminism, gender roles, and the media representation of women in Russia today! Why isn't this woman an internationally renowned figure? Why isn't Ms. magazine profiling her? Why isn't she teaching college courses at home and abroad?

In short, I learned from this book as I've seldom learned from any source on Russia. Letting Russians speak to an international audience in their own words is such a simple idea -- but who else has done this? I recommend this book highly to Russophiles like myself, as well as anyone with a natural curiosity as to how people in other parts of the world are living, struggling, working, and dreaming.

5.0 out of 5 stars RUSSIA, December 28, 2008

By 

Mark S. Koslosky "Russian reader" (Houston, Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Russia's Fate Through Russian Eyes: Perspectives of a New Generation (Hardcover)

THIS IS AN IMPORTANT BOOK. VERY GLAD THAT I PURCHASED IT.

GOOD CONDITION.

MARK S. KOSLOSKY