What I appreciated most about Heyward Isham's Russia's Fate Through Russian Eyes: Voices of the New Generation was its appealingly fresh tone. Russia-watchers like myself are continually frustrated by Western representations and misrepresentations of this fascinating, nuanced nation.

According to many reports, one would think that all Russians were vodka-swilling philosophers, world-weary sex goddesses, or gold-chained criminals. Obviously, these elements are present in Russian life, as indeed they are elsewhere, but the sheer complexity of this country is glossed over when the West reduces its understanding of Russians to simple categories and tired stereotypes.

What Heyward Isham has managed to do so beautifully in this anthology is allow the contributors to discuss their own lives in their own words. In doing so, he blows the tired stereotype of the "passive, lazy Russian" to smithereens.

I don't know if I've ever read as eloquent and evocative an essay as Olga Lobyzeva's discussion of Russia's Far North. It reads like a love affair. Theater director Vladimir Mirzoev provides a fascinating dialogue on the state of art in the New Russia the likes of which I've never seen anywhere, either. Frankly, some of the pieces on tax reform and labor laws left me a bit cold, but just listen to Nadezhda Azhgikhina talk about feminism, gender roles, and the media representation of women in Russia today! Why isn't this woman an internationally renowned figure? Why isn't Ms. magazine profiling her? Why isn't she teaching college courses at home and abroad?

In short, I learned from this book as I've seldom learned from any source on Russia. Letting Russians speak to an international audience in their own words is such a simple idea -- but who else has done this? I recommend this book highly to Russophiles like myself, as well as anyone with a natural curiosity as to how people in other parts of the world are living, struggling, working, and dreaming.