A Democracy of Despots

Hans B. Neumann is an assistant professor of history at Scarborough
College, University of Toronto.

Don Murray, who served as Moscow correspondent for CBC’s The National
from 1988 to 1994, has written a workmanlike account of the last years
of the Soviet Union and beyond, specifically the period 1985 to 1994.

The book goes beyond portraying the Gorbachev–Yeltsin rivalry to
describe in considerable detail the major political events of this
critical period in Russian history. Murray, who was personally familiar
with many of the participants, is unquestionably well informed.
Unfortunately, this knowledge sometimes translates into mind-numbing
detail and excessive reliance on journalistic source material (e.g.,
interviews). What A Democracy for Despots lacks is a well-considered
analysis of the factors that led to the unraveling of the Soviet Union.
Readers looking for a more scholarly treatment of the subject are
advised to look elsewhere.