Book summary

Tim Colton's well-researched, and mostly favorable, biography of the controversial Russian president Boris Yeltsin acknowledges the facts that have led many people to dismiss Yeltsin as a lesser politician and leader. Nevertheless, says Colton, Yeltsin may have been the right leader at the right time, and he deserves to be recognized for his efforts in establishing a new Russia following the fall of the Soviet Union under his rival, Mikhail Gorbachev. Colton charts Yeltsin's rise to power--in a country where mere survival is an achievement--and provides a thorough rendering of Yeltsin's errors, including his heavy-handed treatment off the Russian parliament and, of course, Chechnya. But Yeltsin touched a popular nerve, and sincerely championed the Russian people. He stands between Gorbachev and Putin, and, in comparison to either one, both his flaws and his virtues become evident.

Media reviews

"Colton's book offers a finely detailed portrait of a key international leader."