"A man must live like a great bright flame and burn as brightly as he can. In the end he burns out. But this is better than a mean little flame." – Boris Yeltsin Boris Yeltsin's triumph in the first direct election ever held in Russia was a political resurrection unique in Soviet history—and his courageous stance during the coup attempt of August 1991 has catapulted him into the world spotlight. But who is this earthy yet enigmatic man, — a democrat or a demagogue, a Westernizer or a Russian nationalist? In the first book to examine Yeltsin's extraordinary political career, former Reuters Moscow bureau chief John Morrison gets beyond the heroics to reveal the truth about this controversial maverick. The story of Boris Yeltsin is in many ways the story of Russia itself. His rise from an impoverished background in the remote Ural mountains, his success as both a "hands-on" engineer and communits leader there, his appointment to run the city of Moscow, and his growing disillusionment and break with the party all mirror the vast changes and complex internal conflicts that have shaped and scarred the Soviet Union in the past decades. Equally fascinating is the author's brilliant juxtaposition of the trajectory of Yeltsin's career with that of the man who was first his sponsor, then his opponent, and ultimately his uneasy ally—Mikhail Gorbachev. The relationship between these two men—and the shifting balance of power between them since the breathtaking challenge of the failed coup—forms one of the most intriguing historical dramas of our time. As Morrison examines the issues essential to understanding Yeltsin, he provides a trenchant analysis of recent Soviet history and politics, and of the choices faced by the leaders of a union now on the brink of dissolution. For the conflict between Yeltsin and Gorbachev has never been a battle merely between two political rivals but between two radically different visions of Russia's future—as either empire or nation. Timely and superbly researched, — is an indispensable chronicle of the volatile career of Russia's new apostle of democracy. [from the cover/jacket text]