Sale of the Century

An account of Russia's second revolution - the country's wrenching transition from Communist central planning to a market economy - told by interweaving high politics with glimpses of the revolution's impact on the lives of ordinary people. Beginning with a glimpse of the dismal living conditions in the Soviet Union, with its grinding shortages and bureaucratic restrictions, it moves on to the romantic early days of the capitalist transformation, the period between 1991-93 when prices were suddenly liberated and nearly half of the country's economy was sold off through mass privatization. This was the height of market euphoria, when, despite the chaos of everyday life, the freedoms of capitalism were a revelation and a prosperous future seemed within easy reach. The final stage of the book chronicles the end of the first wave of Russia's capitalist revolution - the economic crisis which is currently rumbling through the country. This crisis, which has triggered a crash in the stockmarket and a huge devaluation of the rouble, marks the conclusion of the first foundation-laying stage of Russia's capitalist transition.