From the collapse of the Soviet Union to Putin’s rule: how Russia became free and what it did with this freedom. The story of Boris Yeltsin and his times, told by his comrades, family, friends, and foes.

The last fifteen years of the twentieth century brought immense, revolutionary change to Russia and its citizens. The Soviet empire collapsed, allowing a very short time for the country to make a huge leap from a totalitarian government to a working democracy, from the repressive socialist regime to an open civil society, and from the command economy to a free competitive market. Those were the times when careers and fortunes were made overnight and came crashing down the next day; when new and almost unlimited opportunities brought new and unpredictable risks; when things could radically change within a few months or even days. Those 1990s were personified by Boris Yeltsin, the first president of Russia, a charismatic leader who brought his country through a long streak of deep and sometimes painful transformations.