Dispatches from the Former Evil Empire (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Walter Cronkite (Author), Betsy Aaron (Author, Foreword) "I think the moment I began to grow fond of the Russians was the first time I saw them with their kids..." (more)
Key Phrases: Boris Yeltsin, United States, New York (more...)

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.

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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: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,783,323 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 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

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.

2 of 2 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

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.

3.0 out of 5 stars Don't Criticize What You Don't Understand, April 20, 2008

By	Irina (St. Petersburg, Russia) - See all my reviews

If you don't understand the critical role of Russian Orthodoxy in Russian life historically and culturally - don't spout off on it - you'll risk coming across as a fool, which is exactly what the author does in Chapter 18 on the resurgence of the Russian Orthodox Church. Russia wouldn't be Russia and Russians wouldn't be Russians without the Russian Orthodox Church. This is not a heterogeous culture like America's that supports a religious smorgasbord with zealous non-Orthodox missionaries running around. Russia's ultimate strength is in its identification with Russian Orthodoxy. The 70+ years of Communist rule have been bitterly hard on believers and significantly negatively impacted several generations of living Russians who, while baptized Orthodox, were mostly denied access to church culture and church tradition growing up. It is going to take a number of decades for this to come back, decades in which the lack of interference by non-Orthodox proselytizers will only be appreciated by the Russians in the long run. The Russian Government understands this. The West, of course, in seeking to impose its own values on Russia (which in many respects do not belong here), does not. So don't criticize what you don't understand.