James H. Billington has been the Librarian of Congress since 1987. The originator and guiding force of two major Russian-American bipartisan initiatives in Congress in the 1990s—Meeting of the Frontiers, a bilingual, online educational library; and the Open World Program, which has brought more than 7,500 emerging young Russian leaders to America—he also founded the Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies in 1974 as director of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. A foreign member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, he is the author of five books on Russia, including, most recently, Russia Transformed and The Face of Russia.
Russia has been in search of itself for a long time. For the present state of the old vs. new debate there is no better guide than this short book by James H. Billington, Librarian of Congress since 1987. -- Walter Laqueur The Moscow Times.com A fond, eccentric mix of deep knowledge and fresh information. This is clearly a book for the cognoscenti. -- Richard Lourie Washington Post Book World One of our foremost historians of Russia... He is acutely aware of how culture can influence political developments. -- Joshua Rubenstein Opinion Journal Takes a close-up look at one of the world's most pressing issues, the turbulent conditions of Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the efforts of Russia to find a post-Soviet identity. Forecast Modest in scale (but not conception)... Russia in Search of Itself ought to be required beach reading for the administration's policy-makers... Most political prognostications benefit from being qualified and hedged. Mr. Billington, guided by the extraordinary history of the land and people he knows so well, here courageously opts for the opposite approach. -- Martin Sieff Washington Times A valuable overview of current thinking on the Russian national idea. -- Kathryn Pinnick Survival If you want to be ahead of the crowd in understanding it [contemporary Russia's intellectual ferment 'in spite of the growing repressiveness of the current regime'], read James Billington. Times Literary Supplement The author's exposure to the ideas and interests of the young Russian intelligence has enriched his book with unique material. -- Serhy Yekelchyk Nationalities Papers This book is valuable primarily for its thorough survey of various contemporary Russian opinions about the country's past and present identity and what it should be in the future. Choice The style is in many ways more literary than political science, but its content treads confidently across today's Russia. -- Edwin Bacon Political Studies Review An engaging look at Russian identity formation through the lens of intellectual history. -- Alison Rowley Canadian Slavonic Papers Russia in Search of Itself ought to be required beach reading for the administration's foreign policy-makers. -- Martin Sieff Sunday Times A slim but extraordinarily useful survey of the main currents in Russian thought and letters in the post-Soviet era. -- Martin Walker International Affairs
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