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RUSSIA'S SECRET RULERS

Name: RUSSIA'S SECRET RULERS
Author: Lev Timofeyev
ISBN: 0-394-58639-5

by Lev Timofeyev ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 18, 1992

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An informative but confused look at the perpetuation in power of Russia's previous rulers, by one of the last dissidents to be jailed by the Gorbachev regime. Timofeyev is clearly right in certain important respects. As he notes, a high proportion of the politicians and bureaucrats still in power in the former Soviet Union are Communists or former Communists. Clearly, too, the degree of corruption required to work within the Soviet system during its final days was immense. Timofeyev argues, in fact, that ``the entire Soviet economy, from top to bottom, is permeated by black market relationships,'' and that ``the Communists suffered defeat primarily because they could not destroy the market.'' He contends, plausibly, that the ruling apparat itself became a market commodity, with numerous jobs having a more or less defined market value. As the Party, committed heavily in so many parts of the world, could no longer afford to unleash a reign of terror, it was compelled to resort to corruption to make its system work. Timofeyev goes too far, however, not only in making unprovable assertions (``It is known that half of all profits made in the criminal sphere are spent in bribing officials'') but in arguing that a criminal mafia is, in effect, the secret ruler of Russia. He attempts to strengthen this argument with ``witness testimony''—interviews he has conducted with figures such as Eduard Shevardnadze, Moscow mayor Gavrill Popov, retired KGB general Oleg Kalugin, and former Washington Post correspondent David Remnick. But little of this testimony supports Timofeyev's mafia-rule thesis: Popov says that he hasn't noticed any significant political activity among the criminal mafia itself, and Remnick points out that what we in the West understand as the mafia is completely different from the Russian variety. Not wholly persuasive, then—though Timofeyev's not alone in seeing Russia's criminal classes in the ascendant: This is also the premise, for instance, of Martin Cruz Smith's most recent novel, Red Square (p. 1085).

Pub Date: Nov. 18, 1992

ISBN: 0-394-58639-5

Page Count: 192

Publisher: Knopf

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1992

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.