Edited by Mark G. Field and Judyth L. Twigg. 314 pp. New York, St. Martin's Press, 2000. $49.95. ISBN 0-312-22916-X.
Russia has undergone a series of enormous social experimentsin the past two decades. In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev introducedthe concepts of glasnost and perestroika to the Soviet Union,a monolithic state that was under rigid central control andsurrounded by secrecy. Six years later, in the wake of an attemptedcoup, the Soviet Union was no more. An independent Russia, divestedof its colonial possessions, experienced a political, social,and economic transition of staggering proportions. The demographicconsequences were enormous. By 1994, life expectancy at birthfor males had fallen to less than 58 years, which was almost8 . . . [Full Text of this Article]
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