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From Monsters and Critics.com Books News Timothy J. Colton has written Yeltsin: A Life, which is a book that uncovers the life of…Yeltsin. The NYT review begins with the following: “Timothy J. Colton lists more than 100 of the similes and analogies that have been applied over the years to Yeltsin, among them martyr and jester, Lincoln and Nixon, Alexander the Great and Ivan the Terrible, Hamlet and Hercules, bear, bulldog and boa constrictor. The wry list is an early signal that Mr. Colton knows he is treading into a subject that has inspired rival mythologies.” Publishers Weekly notes, “Colton agrees with most pundits that overwork and poor lifestyle habits eventually caught up with Yeltsin, forcing him to leave office in 1999; he named Vladimir Putin his successor. While praising Yeltsin's ability to keep Russia together and sow the seeds for later economic success, Colton criticizes his failure to establish constitutional safeguards that might have prevented Russia's recent turn toward authoritarianism. Colton's book offers a finely detailed portrait of a key international leader.” Basic Books is the publisher. Click here for the NYT article. Also, readers should note that the first chapter is available online, courtesy of the NYT.
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