Brezhnev died in 1982, and in 2001 terrorists bombed New York and Washington. In between, in 1991, a great empire collapsed. All those events fit into our slice of time, exactly twenty years, like vodka bottles in a crate.


In the course of a series of conversations, the authors revisit, in an original give-and-take, the last twenty years of Russia's history since the end of communism. From the death of Leonid Brezhnev in 1982 to September 11, 2001, Russia lived through monumental changes: economic transformation, where Alfred Kokh was in charge of privatization and Igor Svinarenko covered the scandal as a journalist; Kokh went to Chechnya as a diplomat to negotiate peace while Svinarenko was there to cover the war, placing his life at risk; Kokh was hired to take over NTV television station owned by Gasprom Media, while Svinarenko obtained the Soros Foundation Award for "Reporter of the Year."


These are just some of the issues covered in this lively overview of Russia's recent history that reads at times like My Dinner with André.


Both writers exaggerate their positions to provoke the other (and the reader). It makes for sharp intellectual fun. Their topics include sex and Russia's faltering demographics, religion, marriage, crime, government, and politics-almost every subject that comes up among friends. They give an inside story of Russia, a backstage tour of oligarch turf battles-in politics and commerce-and a look into the hearts of two people who are passionate about their country and its future.