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| ==His books== | ==His books== | ||
| ==="Age of Delirium" and "Darkness at Dawn"=== | ==="Age of Delirium" and "Darkness at Dawn"=== | ||
| David Satter made his name writing the non-fiction books ''Age of Delirium: the Decline and Fall of the Soviet Union'' (1996) and ''Darkness at Dawn: the Rise of the Russian Criminal State'' (2003), which describe two consecutive periods of modern Russian history. The first book begins with a quotation from the Russian philosopher ] who wrote in 1829: "We are an exception among people. We belong to those who are not an integral part of humanity but exist only to teach the world some type of great lesson". Satter writes about the lives of ordinary people in periods of dramatic social change and describes the decline of the Soviet economy and ideology, ], the ], the ] of the 1990s, the rise of the ], the sinking of the ], and the ]. | |||
| David Satter is the author of two non-fiction books about Russia, Age of Delirium: the Decline and Fall of the Soviet Union (1996) and Darkness at Dawn: the Rise of the Russian Criminal State (2003). The books are based on stories from the lives of Soviet citizens and Russians and seek to explain the spirit and psychology of the country. Age of Delirium tries to show what it meant to construct an entire state on the basis of an ideology and “the cost of the Soviet attempt to remark reality by force.” It argues that once the Soviet ideology was discredited, the collapse of the country was inevitable. Darkness at Dawn describes the massive criminality of post-Soviet Russia and tries to show the consequences of the attempt to create a democratic society without the rule of law. | |||
| ===Ideas=== | |||
| Satter emphasizes the importance of psychology and the opinions of the general population for the development and future of the country. He argues that the Soviet ideology and ] undermined the "moral center" of the ] and investigates the "criminalization of ]" in contemporary Russia where, in his view, the ] and corrupted state officials are all powerful. Satter noted that "Russia has one of the lowest birth rates in the world and the death rate of a country at war...and some of it was caused by poverty, some by alcoholism." <ref name="Theft"/> Satter quotes the director of Russia's State Center for Preventive Medicine saying that the depopulation and alcoholism are caused by "the spiritual condition of the Russian people and the failure of the new society to provide a new purpose after the fall of communism." <ref name="Theft"/> | |||
| ==Reviews== | |||
| Jack Matlock, the former U.S. ambassador in Moscow, writing in The Washington Post, said that Age of Delirium was “spellbinding.” The Virginia Quarterly Review wrote, “The brilliance of this book lies in its eccentricity and in the author’s profound knowledge of and sympathy for the suffering of the Russian people under communism. Satter takes the point of view of the forgotten people, the ones the system just chewed up and spat out like so much roughage. He went everywhere, interviewed in out of the way places, found stories that only the artist knows are there, the stories that lie beneath the rough exterior.” Christopher J. Ward, in a review for H-Net, criticized Age of Delirium for displaying Satter’s “all too prevalent bias,” imperfect organization and failure to explain why the Soviet Union eventually fell. | |||
| Angus Macqueenn found some similarities between his book ''Darkness at Dawn'' and '']'' by ]: "Both these books underline the moral vacuum that the destruction of the Soviet Union has left. There are no values to believe in except theft."<ref name="Theft"> , Review of ''Darkness at Dawn'' by Angus Macqueen, ]</ref> | |||
| Martin Sieff, writing in the Canadian National Post, wrote that Darkness at Dawn was | |||
| Christopher Ward criticised the ''Age of Delirium'' of displaying Satter's 'all-too-prevalent bias', imperfect organisation and failure to explain why did Soviet Union eventually fell.<ref>Christopher J. Ward, review of '''', ]</ref> | |||
| “Vivid, impeccably researched and truly frightening.” Foreign Affairs wrote, “With a reporter’s eye for vivid detail and a novelist’s ability to capture emotion, he conveys the drama of Russia’s rocky road for the average victimized Russian.” | |||
| Angus Macqueen, writing in the Guardian, compared Darkness at Dawn to Putin’s Russia by Anna Politkovskaya. He wrote: “Both of these books underline the moral vacuum that the destruction of the Soviet Union has left.” | |||
| ==Documentary films== | ==Documentary films== | ||
Revision as of 16:41, 18 March 2010
David Satter (born in 1947 in Chicago) is an American journalist who wrote books about the decline and fall of the Soviet Union and the rise of post-Soviet Russia.
Life and career
David Satter graduated from the University of Chicago and Oxford University. He worked for the Chicago Tribune and, from 1976 to 1982, as Moscow correspondent of the Financial Times. He then became a special correspondent on Soviet affairs for the Wall Street Journal. He is currently a research fellow at the Hoover Institution, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and the Jamestown Foundation, and a visiting scholar at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies and at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
His books
"Age of Delirium" and "Darkness at Dawn"
David Satter is the author of two non-fiction books about Russia, Age of Delirium: the Decline and Fall of the Soviet Union (1996) and Darkness at Dawn: the Rise of the Russian Criminal State (2003). The books are based on stories from the lives of Soviet citizens and Russians and seek to explain the spirit and psychology of the country. Age of Delirium tries to show what it meant to construct an entire state on the basis of an ideology and “the cost of the Soviet attempt to remark reality by force.” It argues that once the Soviet ideology was discredited, the collapse of the country was inevitable. Darkness at Dawn describes the massive criminality of post-Soviet Russia and tries to show the consequences of the attempt to create a democratic society without the rule of law.
Reviews
Jack Matlock, the former U.S. ambassador in Moscow, writing in The Washington Post, said that Age of Delirium was “spellbinding.” The Virginia Quarterly Review wrote, “The brilliance of this book lies in its eccentricity and in the author’s profound knowledge of and sympathy for the suffering of the Russian people under communism. Satter takes the point of view of the forgotten people, the ones the system just chewed up and spat out like so much roughage. He went everywhere, interviewed in out of the way places, found stories that only the artist knows are there, the stories that lie beneath the rough exterior.” Christopher J. Ward, in a review for H-Net, criticized Age of Delirium for displaying Satter’s “all too prevalent bias,” imperfect organization and failure to explain why the Soviet Union eventually fell.
Martin Sieff, writing in the Canadian National Post, wrote that Darkness at Dawn was “Vivid, impeccably researched and truly frightening.” Foreign Affairs wrote, “With a reporter’s eye for vivid detail and a novelist’s ability to capture emotion, he conveys the drama of Russia’s rocky road for the average victimized Russian.” Angus Macqueen, writing in the Guardian, compared Darkness at Dawn to Putin’s Russia by Anna Politkovskaya. He wrote: “Both of these books underline the moral vacuum that the destruction of the Soviet Union has left.”
Documentary films
A documentary film is being made based on David Satter's book Age of Delirium. It is expected to completed by December, 2007. David Satter also appears in the documentary "Disbelief" about the Russian apartment bombings made by director Andrei Nekrasov in 2004.
Notes
- Disbelief. The record in IMDB.
- Google Video
His books
- David Satter. Age of Delirium: The Decline and Fall of the Soviet Union, Yale University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-300-08705-5
- David Satter. Darkness at Dawn: The Rise of the Russian Criminal State. Yale University Press, 2003, ISBN 0-300-09892-8
- David Satter. The Future of an Illusion. Yale University Press, 2007, ISBN 0-300-11145-2
External links
Some of his articles
- His articles at the Hudson Institute site
- Who Killed Alexander Litvinenko?
- The Return of the Soviet Union
- A Low, Dishonest Decadence: A Letter from Moscow.