The Faces of Contemporary Russian Nationalism, by John B. Dunlop (Princeton, 363 pp., $32.50)
John Dunlop’s book deals with a phenomenon not acknowledged by most professional Sovietologists: the tenacious faith and energy with which Russians (not “Soviets”) cling to their fatherland, its traditions, language, and culture. If so little is known about the Russia that lies “under the rubble” of a ruinous ideology, the reason may be, the author half suggests, that the Western world is basically more afraid of a renascent Russian nation than of the comfortable continuation of the Communist regime we profess to abhor.
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