yeltsin, boris nikolayevich

The demise of one of the world's superpowers and of the totalitarian system founded by Lenin and enforced by Stalin, is a story of rivalry, treachery, and betrayals, driven to its conclusion by the bitter personal relationship between two major figures of the twentieth century---Gorbachev and Yeltsin.

Boris Yeltsin was the first elected leader in Russian history. He played a key part in the unraveling of the U.S.S.R. and in 1991 he embarked on a sweeping makeover of the new Russia. By the time he retired in 1999 he was forced to admit that he had failed to move Russia towards democracy and free markets in a single leap. His gamble to bring his country to democracy had a great impact on the entire world and remains one of the great, unfinished stories of our time.

Examines the leadership strategies of Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin, the two men who presided over the transition from Soviet to post-Soviet politics in the years between 1985 and 1999, discussing why they acted as they did, how they built support for their programs, and how their achievements and failures might be evaluated.

A biography of Boris Yeltsin, the first freely elected head of state in Russian history, focusing on his accomplishments in post-Communist Russia, including the introduction of a free-market economy and private property.

Traces the life of the Russian leader from his childhood on a collective farm through his education as a civil engineer to his election as the first President of the Russian republic in 1991.

A biography of the Russian leader who was elected president in 1990.

Examines Boris Yeltsin's role as the principal leader and defender of Russia's democratic revolution, exploring how he fought to protect Russia's fragile new liberties, including the core freedoms of speech, religion, press, and political association.