Russia

About Russia

A classic portrait of life in Soviet Russia by Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist David Shipler, now updated and expanded

“Brilliant . . . Indispensable for any reader who wants to decipher, understand, and cross a forbidden border.”—Los Angeles Times

During the Cold War, David Shipler spent four years in Moscow as a New York Times correspondent and bureau chief. Out of that experience came Russia, a book that probed beneath the usual surface observations, stereotypes, and official rhetoric to present a subtle, multi-layered depiction of the tenor of the country behind the Soviet façade.
 
In 1989, Shipler returned to write an updated edition, retaining his focus on the durable features of Russian life and spirit, while taking into account the changes wrought by Gorbachev and glasnost at the end of the Cold War. The result is a memorable, incisive, and eminently human portrait of the Russian people that remains as vital as ever amid increased tensions between Russia and the United States