Lives in Crisis
2 total works
The book opens with a dramatic recount of the attempted coup by hardline communists in August 1991. In the following chapters, it looks at the collapse of the USSR, and the effect on Russian people of radical economic change and the end of centralised Party rule. The Yeltsin regime is assessed: the rise of the oligarchs, wholesale corruption and robber capitalism; and the war in Chechnya. The book concludes with a look at Putin and the future of Russia, still the largest country in the world with over 140 million people and the second biggest nuclear arsenal.
In 1994, for the first time in South Africa's history, the entire population was allowed to vote. The lead up to this momentous event is covered in this book which looks at the apartheid system and how it came to be destroyed. The book then goes on to assess the progress South Africa has made since its first government that represented the interests of the black population was elected, and looks at its social and economic problems. The role of individuals, such as Nelson Mandela, and the impact on individuals is considered throughout, giving the reader an insight into what ordinary South Africans faced and still face today.