Black Hundred: The Rise of the Extreme Right in Russia
Reviewed by Robert Legvold
In the detritus of the Soviet Union a variety of radical nationalist, sometimes reactionary, sometimes racist, sometimes antediluvian groupings have formed. Laqueur, in a highly readable, concise account, summarizes their points of overlap, their varied lineages (from parts of Slavophilism, the Orthodox Church and fascism or, more accurately, proto-fascism), and their political support. Since the book covers everyone and everything from Fyodor Dostoyevski to "Soyuz," the Soviet parliamentary group that fought Baltic independence, analytical fine lines get blurred and analytical depth is sacrificed. The book's strength is its sweep; no other study places the contemporary extremists on the Russian right in so broad a historical context.
