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The Russia that Satter depicts in this brave engaging book cannot be ignored Required reading for anyone interested in the postSoviet state Newsweek

Anticipating a new dawn of freedom after the disintegration of the Soviet Union Russians could hardly have foreseen the reality of their future a decade later a country impoverished and controlled at every level by organized crime This riveting book views the 1990s reform period through the experiences of individual citizens revealing the changes that have swept Russia and their effect on Russias ageold ways of thinking

With a reporters eye for vivid detail and a novelists ability to capture emotion he conveys the drama of Russias rocky road for the average victimized Russian This is only half the story of what is happening in Russia these days but it is the shattering half and Satter renders it all the more poignant by making it so human Foreign Affairs

Satter tells engrossing tales of brazen chicanery official greed and unbearable suffering Satter manages to bring the events to life with excruciating accounts of real Russians whose lives were shattered Baltimore Sun