Billington examines the changes that have occurred in the former Soviet Union over recent years and argues the necessity of the USA and other Western powers making positive economic, political, strategic and cultural responses to the new circumstances.

Notions of magic and healing have been changing over past years and are now understood as reflecting local ideas of power and agency, as well as structures of self, subjectivity and affect. This study focuses on contemporary urban Russia and, through exploring social conditions, conveys the experience of living that makes magic logical. By following people's own interpretations of the work of magic, the author succeeds in unraveling the logic of local practice and local understanding of affliction, commonly used to diagnose the experiences of illness and misfortune.

Cover-to-Cover Chapter 2 Books/Coming to America

The journeys of twenty-one Russian women all of whom came to the West -some in the 1960s and some as late as the 2000s - some searching for a fresh start, some for love, some for a better life for their families. How do these women see their life, both past and present? How do they feel about their childhood, childbirth and abortion; their marriage and husbands; religion; their role as women; their new lives the West; and their dreams or hopes both fulfilled and/or dashed? Follow their experiences from the Soviet Union/Russia to their lives as immigrants in their new communities. Engage with their very personal stories of challenge, change and transformation. Meet and relive the tales of women of very different ages (from 30 to 70) - the oldest living under Stalin and the youngest remembering times just before Gorbachev. What happened to them when they came to the West? Why did they leave? Each story is unique but many common experiences are revealed. Read the accounts of their views and experiences as interviewed by Elizabeth A. Stewart, a noted Russian specialist and immigrant herself.

The Marquis de Custine's unique perspective on a vast, fascinating country in the grip of oppressive tyranny In 1839, encouraged by his friend Balzac, Custine set out to explore Russia. His impressions turned into what is perhaps the greatest and most influential of all books about Russia under the Tsars. Rich in anecdotes as much about the court of Tsar Nicholas as the streets of St Petersburg, Custine is as brilliant writing about the Kremlin as he is about the great northern landscapes. An immediate bestseller on publication, Custine's book is also a central book for any discussion of 19th century history, as - like de Tocqueville's Democracy in America - it dramatizes far broader questions about the nature of government and society.