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Darkness at Dawn: The Rise of the Russian Criminal State Hardcover – April 10, 2003

by David Satter (Author)

4.1 72 ratings

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This book tells the story of reform in Russia through the real experiences of individual citizens. Describing in detail the birth of a new era of repression, David Satter analyzes the changes that have swept Russia and their effect on Russia's age-old way of thinking.

Print length

336 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Yale University Press
Publication date

April 10, 2003
Dimensions

6.5 x 1.25 x 9.5 inches
ISBN-10

0300098928
ISBN-13

978-0300098921
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Editorial Reviews

Review

".... [A] humane and articulate attempt to record the consciousness of ordinary Russians waking up to an unrecognizable historical reality." -- Raymond Asquith, The Spectator (U.K)

".... [V]ivid, impeccably researched and truly frightening." -- Martin Sieff, United Press International/Washington Times

"Satter has.... a reporter's eye for vivid detail and a novelist's ability to capture emotion." -- Robert Legvold, Foreign Affairs

"This brave engaging book should be required reading for anyone interested in the post-Soviet state." -- Newsweek

David Satter must be commended for saying what a great many people only dare to think." -- Matthew Brzezinski, The Toronto Globe and Mail

[Satter]. . . .describes, more compellingly than any abstract theorist could, the consequences of nominal freedom without rule of law. -- Michael Potemra, National Review

From the Publisher

Also Available by David Satter: Age of Delirium

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Yale University Press; First Edition (April 10, 2003)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0300098928
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0300098921
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.36 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.5 x 1.25 x 9.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,889,064 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #4,478 in Russian History (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.1 72 ratings

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David Satter

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David Satter is one of the world’s leading commentators on Russia and the former Soviet Union. He is the author of four books on Russia and the creator of a documentary film on the fall of the U.S.S.R. In May, 2013, he became an adviser to the Russian Service of Radio Liberty and in September, 2013, he was accredited as a Radio Liberty correspondent in Moscow. Three months later, he was expelled from Russia becoming the first U.S. correspondent to be expelled since the Cold War.

David Satter is a fellow of the Foreign Policy Institute at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and a senior fellow of the Hudson Institute in Washington, D.C. He is also a senior fellow of the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia and an associate of the Henry Jackson Society in London. He has been a research fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. He teaches a course on Russian politics and history at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced Academic Programs and has been a visiting professor at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign and a visiting fellow in journalism at Hillsdale College, Hillsdale, Michigan.

David Satter’s first book was Age of Delirium: the Decline and Fall of the Soviet Union, which was published in 1996. He later made a documentary film on the basis of this book which won the 2013 Van Gogh Grand Jury Prize at the Amsterdam Film Festival. In addition, David Satter has written three other books about Russia, Darkness at Dawn: the Rise of the Russian Criminal State (2003), It Was a Long Time Ago and It Never Happened Anyway: Russia and the Communist Past (2011), and The Less You Know, the Better You Sleep: Russia’s Road to Terror and Dictatorship under Yeltsin and Putin. His books have been translated into eight languages.

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4.1 out of 5

72 global ratings

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peeter kuus

Acually pretty horible reading, considering the present events

Reviewed in the United States on May 3, 2022

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This book is about the rise towards the absolute power of russian criminals and oligarhs, supported by FSB after the collapse of USSR. Just terrible to follow very close the events what actually happened just few years ago, but which actually have led this most hated state in the world to the present situation. Even more crazy is to understand that the present events in Ukraine have possibly been just the part of the much bigger agenda: to re-create the empire. And to understand that the price of human life in Russia is basically zero. Well written, lots of facts and names. Love his book!

5 people found this helpful

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A_2007_reader

Excellent vignettes! Chap by Chap summary here

Reviewed in the United States on December 10, 2004

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This book is an outstanding series of vignettes (there! I used that word) but is unbalanced in that nothing positive is described. But it's good to read, like modern crime non-fiction.

Some 'favorites':

Introduction: Miss Russia 1996 is killed being at wrong place, wrong time when Russian Mafia bump off her benefactor.

Chap 1: On the Kursk, and Russian cover-up

Chap 2: Ryazan incident. WORTH THE PRICE OF THE BOOK. This is a spectacular chapter. I won't spoil it with spoilers but the circumstantial evidence is very strong that the Russian FSB (like FBI) basically planted bombs in 1999 to justify a second invasion of Chechyna. But I will give one spoiler: the Duma, on a pro-Kremlin party block vote, voted to seal the Ryazan incident and all materials used for the next 75 years and forbade an investigation of what really happened. The official explanation (which defies logic): 'The FSB was conducting an unannounced training exercise involving non-explosive materials with civilians as the target, and were caught by mistake by the local Ryazan police. The local police, despite having state of the art bomb detecting equipment and many hours of defusing actual bombs, misdiagnosed the material used in the training exercise as hexogen; in fact it was sugar. The FSB attempted to flee the area undetected after the bomb was found in accordance with training procedures, to see if they could escape" Do you think this would fly with the American people? But having visited Russia I can assure you--it works in Russia because nobody short of a suicidal or brave journalist wants to know. Patriot Games with a vengence.

Chap 3- Gaidar/Chubais and the Young Reformers. Not that interesting since better done in other books.

Chap 4 - The History of Reform - " "

Chap 5 - The Gold Seekers - on the MMM pyramid scheme and the guy that got away (senatorial immunity)

Chap 6 - The Workers--how they get shafted after management buys out their factory at 1/1000th market value in a rigged auction and then offshores the capital (leaving the factory running at a technical loss). Better covered by Klebnikov's "Godfather of the Kremlin"

Chap 7 - Law Enforcement - where crooks are cops

Chap 8 - Organized Crime - a lovely tale about two stubborn Canadians who wanted to open an ex-pat bar in Moscow. They did, after becoming managers for rival mafia gangs. But ironically they love it. Typical foreigner in Russia mindset--they love the great sex and excitement of Eastern Europe.

Chap 9 - Ulyanovsk - hunger strike claims a victim

Chap 10 - Vladivostok - the mayor, who for once is a decent person loved by the population (which generally backs anybody with power), is run out of town by a mafia.

Chap 11 - Krasnoyarsk - the infamous aluminum factory run by convicted gangster Bykov and his friends (some still on Forbes Richest 400 Russians list, and all under 40 years old, some under 30). Value add, Russian style. Read this to see what it costs to convict a mafiya member in Russia--a lot of innocent people have to first die, even die testifying. And our friend Bykov? He'll be eligible for parole soon.

Chap 12 - The value of human life - zero. Some case studies including surgery without lights (patient died); falling into a boiling hot water sinkhole (not uncommon since Moscow uses hot water to heat buildings, in fact, happens every other year). Boy and father trying to rescue him both die--slow agonizing deaths "4th degree burns". Woman trying to find her soldier son's corpse in Chechyna finds cadavers routinely appear to be mistakenly identified and buried under wrong name.

Chap 13 - Criminalization of Consciousness - on the Uralmash criminal gang, and how free beer and candy won over the hearts of the populace. Typical Russian tactic. Gang got elected to power.

Chap 14 - Conclusion

26 people found this helpful

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John

Tells it like it is

Reviewed in the United States on September 6, 2011

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I like when authors tell the truth about what has happened in Russia since the breakup of the Soviet Union. David Satter was probably frustrated that his old employer, The Financial Times, watered down all the news about Russia to make things seem less bad.

The chapter on Ryazan is particularly good and enlightens the reader about how scary the Russian government really is.

Now in 2011, this book from 2003 is still entirely relevant because Russia is still controlled by the same crooks. None of the problems have been addressed, and many Westerners continue to abet this government.

Free copies of Darkness at Dawn should be given out to all these folks at the IMF, World Bank, EBRD, etc.

John Christmas, author of "Democracy Society"

13 people found this helpful

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Nichola Welsh

could have been better cited

Reviewed in the United States on April 9, 2014

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Lots of anecdotal evidence, but lacking on real numbers. The book could use an update, especially about Putin and his flip flopping political title, and Russia aggression against Ukraine and Georgia.

4 people found this helpful

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Scott E. Packard

Life in Russia pales by comparison with Western standards

Reviewed in the United States on June 16, 2004

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A very well-documented book, which I think it had to be in order to convince someone like me (a California native) that life is so poor for 75% of Russians. Not poor as in "my rent just went up and the refridgerator is on the blink" but poor as in close to death, as in you collapse at work from no food and no medicine and you haven't received a paycheck in over 4 months even though you have this job and do it well.
I had no idea the quality of life is so poor there, that the establishment really protects itself, and the cops are more likely to shake you down for a bribe than arrest a crook who stole from you. Further, most all the government assets were, I'm struggling for words here, turned into cash for the corrupt people who were running them before the fall of communism. Everything the countrymen worked their lives for to build up was converted into cash, given to those with connections, and massive debt was then given back to the countrymen.
In closing, a very dark book. Perhaps a foreshadowing of what is to come in Iraq.

32 people found this helpful

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Johnr

fascinating!

Reviewed in the United States on February 21, 2014

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I worked for 4 years at U.S. Consulate St Petersburg, and my wife is Russian. I read a
lot about Russia and this book explains a lot why it is like it is.

4 people found this helpful

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Opt out

Chilling but fascinating

Reviewed in the United States on August 16, 2022

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The book provides a detailed factual account of man's inhumanity to man in the context of Russia after the fall of the USSR. I do wonder what was the role of Western 'advisers' in the looting of Russia's natural resources and other assets by those who became oligarchs.

2 people found this helpful

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Abdulmuhsen S Al Meshaan

Four Stars

Reviewed in the United States on August 10, 2016

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Very informative book on the level of corruption in the name of economic and political reforms

2 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Caio

Depressing tale

Reviewed in Brazil on November 25, 2022

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No historical process occurs in isolation, there is always a complex chain of events behind. The history of Putin’s Russia is no different. The invasion of Ukraine did not happen out of the blue, as many seem to believe. The second Chechen war was a template. Furthermore, seeing how bad the situation was for the average Russian at the time, his/her support for Putin’s ascension is even understandable. A necessary book indeed.

Pat45

Darkness at Dawn

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 13, 2013

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This book is very well written & even the unsophisticated person like me, with very little knowledge of the subject, can follow it & understand it. I feel a sense of despair as I read the book.The poor, down-trodden, ordinary Russian citizen doesn't stand a chance against the criminality of the new masters. There is no justice, no law to protect the ordinary Russian, but the criminals have made fortunes. What I find hard to comprehend is the lack of compassion for the ordinary Russian shown by the Mafia & the government. What has happened to morality? I do not see an easy solution to the problems in Russia.

4 people found this helpful

Dan

A no-no for me

Reviewed in Canada on November 1, 2022

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I expect some entertainment from the books I read. This one is dark, with too many details to the point where one doesn't care any more about those poor people.

tom

Lots of interesting stories

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 19, 2017

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Good read, would have enjoyed more analysis of the Russian apartment bombings

Mike Alexander

Reality

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 25, 2020

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The nature of the rise of Russian oligarchs.