The New Russians

In The Russians , published in 1983, Smith asserted that fundamental change in the Soviet Union was impossible. Based on his 10 trips to the U.S.S.R. within the past two years, his new book represents an about-face. He hails the current wave of reforms as ``the most extraordinary peaceful revolution of the twentieth century'' and argues that the process of change will sustain momentum--with or without Gorbachev. This riveting, in-depth report has its finger on the pulse of perestroika and glasnost as the Pulitizer Prize-winning journalist travels from Lithuania to Central Asia, talking to industry managers, Armenian nationalists, farmers hit by ecological disaster, TV producers, revilers and die-hard reverers of Stalin. Smith illuminates the struggle between the party bureaucracy and the increasingly liberal Soviet media, which has played a vital role in reshaping public attitudes. Author tour. (Dec.)