A veritable cottage industry is emerging of books about the parlous condition of present-day Russia, but few of them match the depth and acumen displayed by Robert V. Daniels' Russia's Transformation and Anatol Lieven's Chechnya: Tombstone of Russia Power.

Los Angeles Times

[An] excellent collection of essays. . . . Daniels's provocative assault on the 'conventional wisdom' on the Russian Federation is extremely coherent and insightful.

The Russian Review

The author offers a fascinating discussion of the kind of 'utopianism' that afflicted not just Soviet revolutionaries but also the post-Soviet Russian regieme. . . . He provides an excellent critique of current reforism, including 'shock therapy,' privatization, and marketiztion. Daniels writing is crisp, direct, and graceful.

Gregory J. Massell, Hunter College, City Univ. of New York, Slavic Review

Each essay is a small gem. They are without exception articulate, penetrating, and infused with a sophisticated grasp of political theory. . . . Re-reading these well-crafted contemporary essays offers a useful and enlightening reminder of the extent of change.

James R. Millar, The George Washington University, Slavonica

Robert V. Daniels has written perceptively and sensibly about the Soviet Union and now Russia over many years. This excellent collection shows that, contrary to the assertions of some, it was possible for the best Sovietologists to illuminate the Russian political scene for Western readers at the time and not only in retrospect.

Archie Brown, Oxford University