Yeltsin's Russia: Myths and Reality is the most current and comprehensive account of the achievements - and failures - of Boris Yeltsin's Russia. Combining keen political analysis with the unique perspective of a native observer, Shevtsova's book also offers a valuable assessment of the forces that will shape the post-Yeltsin era.

In this book, his own account of the crises that beset his country from 1990 to 1993, Yeltsin reveals how close he came to losing control, how he made his fatal mistakes and key choices, and how he regards his achievements, his opponents and his allies, and assesses what remains to be done.

Boris Yeltsin is one of modern history's most dynamic and underappreciated figures. In this vivid, analytical masterwork, Herbert J. Ellison establishes Yeltsin as the principal leader and defender of Russia's democratic revolution - the very embodiment of Russia's fragile new liberties, including the evolving respect for the rule of law and private property as well as core freedoms of speech, religion, press, and political association. In 1987 President Mikhail Gorbachev expelled Boris Yeltsin from his team of reform politicians, but Yeltsin rebounded from this potentially devastating setback to become the leader of the Russian democratic movement. He created a new office of Russian president, to which he was elected; designed a democratic constitution for the Soviet Union that precipitated a coup attempt by traditionalist communist leaders; granted independence to the nations of the Soviet Union; and replaced Communist Party rule with democracy and the socialist economy with a market economy. In a short period, he had succeeded in becoming the first popularly elected leader in a thousand years of Russian history. He had blocked violent attempts at counter-revolution and overcome powerful resistance to his reform program. His achievements rank among the most extraordinary feats of political leadership in the twentieth century.

The former Moscow bureau chief of London's The Guardian presents an in-depth history of the former Soviet Union from 1987 to today. Jonathan Steele draws on interviews with Gorbachev, senior members of the Yeltsin inner circle, and many other sources to highlight the difficulty of establishing democracy and a free market in Russia.

Even after his death in April 2007, Boris Yeltsin remains the most controversial figure in recent Russian history. Although Mikhail Gorbachev presided over the decline of the Communist party and the withdrawal of Soviet control over eastern Europe, it was Yeltsin-Russia's first elected president-who buried the Soviet Union itself. Upon taking office, Yeltsin quickly embarked on a sweeping makeover of newly democratic Russia, beginning with a program of excruciatingly painful market reforms that earned him wide acclaim in the West and deep recrimination from many Russian citizens. In this, the first biography of Yeltsin's entire life, Soviet scholar Timothy Colton traces Yeltsin's development from a peasant boy in the Urals to a Communist party apparatchik, and then ultimately to a nemesis of the Soviet order. Based on unprecedented interviews with Yeltsin himself as well as scores of other Soviet officials, journalists, and businessmen, Colton explains how and why Yeltsin broke with single-party rule and launched his drive to replace it with democracy. Yeltsin's colossal attempt to bring democracy to Russia remains one of the great, unfinished stories of our time. As anti-Western policies and rhetoric resurface in Putin's increasingly bellicose Russia, Yeltsin offers essential insights into the past, present, and future of this vast and troubled nation.

Throughout history, strong-willed Russian autocrats have rescued their country from foreign domination, disorder, and possible chaos, often using the cruelest means to achieve their ends. Gorbachev tried to implement socialism with a human face in the Soviet Union, but failed. In the early 1990s, once again, Russia needed a strong hand to pull it out of chaos. In August 1991 Boris Yeltin emerged as such a leader, but unlike earlier strong leaders, he was determined to pull Russia out of the Communist morass and affect his country's integration with Western democracies through democratic means. Felkay carefully analyzes the impact of Yeltsin on the newly evolving relationship between Russia and the Western democracies. But separating the process of formulating foreign and domestic policies would be impossible. From the onset, Yeltsin kept both reins of decision-making firmly in hand. Accordingly, Felkay assesses Yeltsin's effectiveness in moving his country toward democracy and a market economy, and he shows the ups and downs of his pro-Western foreign policies. This book provides an important analysis for scholars, students, and other researchers involved with Russian studies, international relations, and comparative politics.

The literature on Boris Yeltsin is vast. Memoirs have been produced not only by politicians – first-hand participants in the events, Yeltsin himself penned three volumes of recollections – but also assistants, press secretaries, political analysts, journalists, MPs, retired members of Gorbachev’s Politburo, public figures now long forgotten, generals of special services and security service staff. Boris Minaev started working on Boris Yeltsin’s biography when the politician was still alive. In his work the author has used not only publicly accessible documents that have been printed or otherwise made accessible but also interviews that are published for the first time. In this unique biography of the first President of the Russian Federation author consistently describes events of Yeltsin's life, capturing and conveying his unique personality with all the contradictions of his character and principles that determined public attitude towards Yeltsin. Some saw him as an outstanding builder of the new Russia, others - as a destroyer of the great state. But whoever he was de facto, the decade of his rule shook the world. *** Boris Minayev is a Russian writer and correspondent. Minayev has worked for many Russian venues and is currently serving as Editor-in-Chief of the journal Medved. Boris Minayev is known for his children’s books and novels for mature readers. One of the most famous works of his that is being widely quoted in the media is his biography of Russia’s first president Boris Yeltsin, first published in the series ‘Lives of Extraordinary People’.