Zhirinovsky: An Insider's Account of Yeltsin's Chief Rival & Bespredel-The New Russian Roulette

Russian politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky is widely viewed in the West as an expansionist, ultranationalist, anti-Semitic demagogue and would-be dictator, but in this lame apologia, Kartsev argues that Zhirinovsky's extremist statements are merely a well-orchestrated public-relations ploy to get media attention and to please his constituencies. Kartsev, director of Mir Publishing in Moscow until 1989, was the boss of Zhirinovsky, Mir's in-house lawyer; Bludeau was an editor at Mir under Kartsev. Kartsev denies charges that he recruited Zhirinovsky for the KGB, asserting that both the KGB and the Communist Party considered him untrustworthy. This biographical sketch's primary value lies in its compelling portrait of the anarchy, widespread poverty, organized crime, corruption and disillusionment convulsing Russia today--chaotic conditions that, as Kartsev emphasizes, make possible the rise of Zhirinovsky and other rabble-rousers. Photos not seen by PW. Author tour. (May)