Lenin's Tomb: The Last Days of the Soviet Empire (Pulitzer Prize Winner)

This is an impressive narrative history covering a critical period in Russian history that haunts the world to this day.It provides context for Vladimir Putin's attempt to build a new (arguably evil) empire. The book has the content and context supported by the author's observations of living in Russia in those fateful years along with amazing first person interviews of key players from the decades the Soviet Union existed.All of this is brought to life through Remnick's persuasive and entertaining writing style. Consider his indictment of the Soviet Union's leaders in the Communist Party, KBG, and military who were culpable in an ideological and decades long lie, "the truth challenged their existence, their comfort and privileges. Their right to a decent office, a cut of meat, the month vacation in the Crimea - it all depended on a colossal social deception, on the forced ignorance of 280 million people."His overriding thesis is based on the deception the leaders perpetuated, "When history was no longer an instrument of the Party, the Party was doomed to failure. For history proved precisely that: the Party was rotten to the core." He compares it to Oz, "a colossal mistake, and the only way to endure it was the perfection of irony." Irony, black humour, resigned acceptance and dicey alcoholism. In proving the latter he draws on Yerofeyev's novel, Moscow Circles, which drew on real life, "His greatest relief is in the mastery of the binge. He is an artful mixologist." This mixologist is the everyman of the Soviet Union who would drink nail varnish and lavender water (or bathtub gin, hair tonic, bug spray) in a pinch just to survive the grey, monolith that was the empire.In order to maintain the totalitarian system, its leaders used the regular and secret police along with judges to maintain control. If that was threatening enough, your neighbor or own child may inform on you. All the while you spent your day waiting in line for bread and meat and years for an apartment, a phone, and a burial plot. Meanwhile, the leaders and party functionaries are labeled by Remnick as the largest and most abusive Mafia the world has ever seen. Even in far flung outposts of the Empire like Azerbaijan, these shameless officials live on vast estates. One fake Communist mucky-muck built his castle with thousands of slave labourers. The grounds eventually filled with peacocks and thoroughbred horses while the bedrooms held concubines.The Gorbachev and Yeltsin saga is well-laid out and sadly farcical. I remember watching the news of the 1991 coup attempt. It was a surreal as they come. Yet, the Soviet Union was surreal in that 280 million people lived for decades as peasant hostages. A surreal Oz run by a ruthless Mafia who had the benign approval of millions. Even the most talented dystopian novelist could not invent the Soviet Union.

This book tells the story of the struggle of Russia to reclaim it's history from the tissue of lies the Communist Party packaged and sold in place of the truth. Remnick, who was an American journalist in Moscow, brings a host of information together detailing how people, at great risk to themselves, investigated the bloody facts of the history of the USSR which the Communists wanted to paint over. The slow admissions to the Katyn Massacre, the Red Terror under Lenin and the truely brutal Purges of Stalin were forced into the open and helped to discredit the Soviet regime and hastened it's collapse. "Lenin's Tomb" is a book of many stories that are all well told. This book is sadly prophetic in it's warning of the danger of another dictator/oligarchy taking power before a democratic Russia could be established. Enter Vladimir Putin.

A major accomplishment. By luck, Remnick happened to be in Moscow just after the USSR's fall, when the massive state archives suddenly opened up and the truth about the Soviet government was laid bare, ripe for the picking. But picking through this research and calling living witnesses until they relented and agreed to talk to him had nothing to do with luck. It took work and persistence. That he is a gifted writer is lucky for his readers, and the one element that made this heart-breaking information comprehensible, not to mention bearable. More than once, the content was so devastating that I had to put the book down for a few months. I have yet to finish it, but want to. If he had the grit to write it, he deserves readers willing to absorb it.

David Remnick’s book “Lenin’s Tomb…” is a gem; thorough, informative and instructive. He traveled the length and breadth of former Soviet Union countries, interviewed leaders of science, industry, trade workers, farmers, dissidents, and advocates who provided personal views of the Soviet political machine and its impact on their lives. The interviews with key political figures, journalists and ordinary citizens also provided stories of neglect and physical abuse amid those who blatantly disregarded basic human needs and others who didn’t seem to care.Remnick’s fascinating book contained detailed historical accounts from those who witnessed the chain-of-events of Stalinism.These person to person contacts were very moving. Stalin’s brutal regime was hard and ugly. It was difficult to understand and discouraging to read comments of admiration, living under this system, rather than scores of condemnation.History enthusiasts should read this book for an in-depth knowledge of Stalinism and how it dramatized and excoriated the “soul” of its peoples and, what life was like under a despotic Communist ruler. I could not put this book down. It’s readable, interesting and tells a good story; chocked full of events from people who were “drivers” of the Communist world and of those who orchestrated its demise.An extraordinary revelation of a perverted political system perpetrated upon the innocent. A very impressive book; should rank with the best. Strongly recommend.Bruce E. McLeod, Jr.Las Vegas, Nevada11 April 2014

"Lenin's Tomb" is without a doubt the definitive account of the internal machinations of the Communist Party that led to the coup to end Gorbachev's reign as Soviet Premier, the ensuing chaos that followed and the collapse of the Soviet Union with the coup against Gorbachev and the conditions that led to the rise of Yeltsin. Remnick's role as the USSR correspondent for the Washington Post positioned him to be the perfect eyewitness to this history and his gifts as a writer makes the story eminently accessible, something that probably would be inaccessible in the hands of less gifted historians. Almost 25 years later, this is a masterpiece and provides keen insights for the subsequent evolution of post-Soviet Russia under Yeltsin and subsequently Putin.

Great

This book is not just informative, it makes the story it's telling come to life. Great for anyone with deep or casual interest in Soviet history.

Incredibly well-written. Haven't finished it yet but so far a great read!

If you are looking for a detailed account of the period leading to collapse of soviet Union as the title of the book might suggest, then you will be disappointed. Rather than a linear account, the author has divided the book into broad themes in the form of chapters. You must have some knowledge of Soviet history to be able to read the book otherwise you will spend a lot of time googling. Not recommended for a beginner.Also, the author spends too much time offering his own views and opinions rather than letting the reader form his own opinion.

1. Don't buy this book just because its on discount.2. Print quality is of third grade (blur printing, cheap quality pages etc)3. It looks like pirated version which you may get at footpath for Rs. 250- Rs. 300/-4. Purchased this during great Indian festival sale and regretted5. It will frustrate you more if you collect books and want to keep them for a long period.Conclusion:- Don't buy books online from Amazon and misuse money.