When approaching any book on Russia the word that always springs to mind is agenda.
Thankfully Who Lost Russia? is free from any such baggage as Peter Conradi, foreign editor of The Sunday Times, gives an excellent and sympathetic account of the country from the fall of the Soviet Union on December 26th, 1991, to the present day, and of Russia's relationship with the rest of the world.
Conradi spent six years as a foreign correspondent in Moscow from 1988, and his book sweeps through a tumultuous quarter of a century in riveting fashion. The author is very good on the detail, yet never gets bogged down in the minutiae of what is a dense narrative full of permutations. History unfolds easily due to a lively pace and solid research, which are testament to Conradi’s clean, economical, journalistic style. His analysis always remains even-handed on a subject that is usually a for-or-against for most people, while he never forgets to sprinkle funny or colourful anecdotes throughout the story. An insightful and satisfying read.
