INNER OF THE ORWELL PRIZE 2016 How did a country that liberated itself from seve
nty years of Soviet rule end up as one of the biggest threats to the West and, a
bove all, to its own future? Why did the people who rejected Communist ideology
come to accept state propaganda? In this bold and important book, Arkady Ostrovs
ky takes the reader on an enthralling journey through Russia's tumultuous post-S
oviet transformation and illuminates the key turning points that often took the
world by surprise. As a foreign correspondent in his own country, Ostrovsky has
experienced Russia's modern history first-hand, and through original research an
d interviews he reveals the ideological conflicts, compromises and temptations t
hat have left Russia on a knife-edge.
