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Booklist Review

Do not let this title deceive: This is not a biography. That is to say, it is not a cradle-to-crutch-style tour of the life of "Yeltsin, the Man." Rather, Boris Yeltsin is a study of the recent political struggle to democratize the Communist oligarchy in the Soviet Union (including this August's unsuccessful coup d'{{‚}}etat, in response to which this book was rushed to press) and the resistance to and leadership of this struggle within the vast Russian republic. Boris Yeltsin--one-time Communist Party member, now elected president of the Russian republic--demands the focus of this study as the most dynamic reformer in recent history. However, journalist Morrison is not an insider, and though he reconstructs Yeltsin's political rise with a definite favorable bias and a lively style, it is not with any in-depth personal view. Neither does he give any substantive sense of the feelings of the Russian masses who have been Yeltsin's vehicle to power. Yet, as a system narrative--touching briefly on the characters involved (names: Gorbachev, Ligachev, Ryzhkov, Sakharov) and critical events--Boris Yeltsin is clearly written and will easily engage the politically minded, even those with limited knowledge of the USSR. (Reviewed Nov. 1, 1991)0525934316Angus Trimnell