Black Wind, White Snow: The Rise of Russia's New Nationalism

by Charles Clover

Overview

A fascinating study of the root motivations behind the political activities and philosophies of Putin’s government in Russia

“Part intellectual history, part portrait gallery . . . Black Wind, White Snow traces the background to Putin’s ideas with verve and clarity.”—Geoffrey Hosking, Financial Times

“Required reading. This is a vivid, panoramic history of bad ideas, chasing the metastasis of the doctrine known as Eurasianism. . . . Reading Charles Clover will help you understand the world of lies and delusions that is Eurasia.”—Ben Judah, Standpoint

Charles Clover, award-winning journalist and former Moscow bureau chief for the Financial Times, here analyzes the idea of "Eurasianism," a theory of Russian national identity based on ethnicity and geography. Clover traces Eurasianism’s origins in the writings of white Russian exiles in 1920s Europe, through Siberia’s Gulag archipelago in the 1950s, the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, and up to its steady infiltration of the governing elite around Vladimir Putin. This eye-opening analysis pieces together the evidence for Eurasianism’s place at the heart of Kremlin thinking today and explores its impact on recent events, the annexation of Crimea, and the rise in Russia of anti-Western paranoia and imperialist rhetoric, as well as Putin’s sometimes perplexing political actions and ambitions.

Based on extensive research and dozens of interviews with Putin’s close advisers, this quietly explosive story will be essential reading for anyone concerned with Russia’s past century, and its future.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780300223941
Publisher:	Yale University Press
Publication date:	04/26/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	384
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Charles Clover is an award-winning journalist currently based in Tokyo, where he writes for the Financial Times and Nikkei Asian Review. He was previously the China correspondent and the Moscow bureau chief for the Financial Times.

Table of Contents

Map of Eurasia x

Preface xi

Introduction 1

Part I

1 The most boring adventure ever 23

2 The short summer 36

3 Family trees 42

4 Coals to Newcastle 54

Part II

5 Requiem 77

6 The 'Big House' 84

7 Gulag 92

Part III

8 A Soviet Virgil 151

9 Paris 1990 175

10 Satan's ball 208

11 Heartland 232

12 The chess piece 249

13 Political technology 267

14 Wag the dog 306

15 Export of the passionaries 319

Notes 333

Select bibliography 346

Illustration credits 348

Index 349

Editorial Reviews

What did Putin mean by ‘Eurasia’ and where does his project come from? This is the question Charles Clover sets out to answer in this though-provoking book. Part intellectual history, part portrait gallery . . . Black Wind, White Snow traces the background to Putin’s ideas with verve and clarity.”—Geoffrey Hosking, Financial Times

“Clover writes knowledgeably and engagingly of the Russian political scene . . . Readers who would like to make that judgement for themselves in the case of today’s Russia will scarcely find a better introduction than Black Wind, White Snow.”—Edmund Griffiths, Times Literary Supplement

“A veteran Financial Times correspondent analyses what really motivates the regime in Moscow by tracing the rise of Eurasianism: the belief (crudely put) that Russia’s national identity is determined by ethnicity, geography and destiny.”—The Economist, “Books of the Year 2016”

“Black Wind, White Snow is required reading. This is a vivid, panoramic history of bad ideas, chasing the metastasis of the doctrine known as Eurasianism . . . Reading Charles Clover will help you understand the world of lies and delusions that is Eurasia.”—Ben Judah, Standpoint

“An important contribution to this discussion . . . Mr. Clover’s reporting is excellent.”—The Economist

“[A] deeply researched, fascinating account of how nationalist views that were once dissident or marginal in the Soviet Union seeped into the corridors of power in the Kremlin when Marxism-Leninism stopped working . . . Clover’s book deserves to win prizes for originality of mind as well as the strength of his liver—he has spent many nights drinking with these nationalists.”—Michael Burleigh, The Times

“Utterly absorbing.”—Benjamin Nathans, New York Review of Books

“Clover offers a thoughtful and well-contextualized account of a potent form of Russian nationalism.”—Lucien Frary, Terrorism and Political Violence

“Clover’s account of ‘Eurasianism’ in Russia is unlikely to be equaled. . . . Clover’s unusual command of source material and personal interviews integrates his subject into the improvised and obscure style of Putin’s Russia. Highly recommended.”—Zachary Irwin, Library Journal

“Essential reading. Charles Clover expertly traces how thinkers from Russia's nationalist fringe infiltrated the highest levels of Putin’s Kremlin and helped set Russian foreign policy on its current dangerous course.”—Andrew S. Weiss, Vice President for Studies, Russia and Eurasia Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

“Panoramic and vivid. Informative and gripping. This is required reading on Russia now.”—Ben Judah, author of Fragile Empire: How Russia Fell In and Out of Love with Vladimir Putin

“Nationalism—but not as we know it. Part poetic exercise, part proto-fascism, Eurasianism is the old-new idea eating away the Russian soul and spreading throughout Europe. Clover’s book is an intellectual adventure into a dangerous ideological Wonderland.”—Peter Pomerantsev, author of Nothing is True and Everything is Possible: Adventures in Modern Russia

From the Publisher

‘Clover writes knowledgeably and engagingly of the Russian political scene … Readers who would like to make that judgement for themselves in the case of today’s Russia will scarcely find a better introduction than Black Wind, White Snow.’ - Edmund Griffiths, TLS

TLS - Edmund Griffiths

“What did Putin mean by 'Eurasia' and where does his project come from? This is the question Charles Clover sets out to answer in this though-provoking book. Part intellectual history, part portrait gallery… Black Wind, White Snow traces the background to Putin’s ideas with verve and clarity.”—Geoffrey Hosking, Financial Times

Financial Times - Geoffrey Hosking

“A veteran Financial Times correspondent analyses what really motivates the regime in Moscow by tracing the rise of Eurasianism: the belief (crudely put) that Russia’s national identity is determined by ethnicity, geography and destiny.”—The Economist, “Books of the Year 2016” 

The Economist

“[Black Wind, White Snow] has significance beyond its immediate subject matter. Its meticulous observation provides us with a case study of birth of a new ideology, taking place before our very eyes.”—Antony Black, European Legacy

European Legacy - Antony Black

“The new Russian nationalism for which Dugin speaks is entirely genuine. Clover casts a considerable light on its roots, on its passionate bias against the West, and on the Russian reality with which the rest of us now have to deal. His is therefore a book that needs to be read.”—Rodric Braithwaite, Open Russia

Open Russia - Rodric Braithwaite

“[A] deeply researched, fascinating account of how nationalist views that were once dissident or marginal in the Soviet Union seeped into the corridors of power in the Kremlin when Marxism-Leninism stopped working… Clover’s book deserves to win prizes for originality of mind as well as the strength of his liver  — he has spent many nights drinking with these nationalists.”—Michael Burleigh, the Times

The Times - Michael Burleigh

“Black Wind, White Snow is required reading. This is a vivid, panoramic history of bad ideas, chasing the metastasis of the doctrine known as Eurasianism… Reading Charles Clover will help you understand the world of lies and delusions that is Eurasia.”—Ben Judah, Standpoint

Standpoint - Ben Judah