1990: Russians Remember a Turning Point

Although 1989 and 1991 witnessed more spectacular events, 1990 was a year of embryonic change in Russia: Article 6 of the constitution was abolished, and with it the Party's monopoly on political power. This fascinating collection of documentary evidence crystalises the aspirations of the Russian people in the days before Communism finally fell.

It charts - among many other social developments - the appearance of new political parties and independent trade unions, the rapid evolution of mass media, the emergence of a new class of entrepreneurs, a new openness about sex and pornography and a sudden craze for hot-air ballooning, banned under the Communist regime.

1990 is a reminder of the confusion and aspirations of the year before Communism finally collapsed in Russia, and a tantalising glimpse of the paths that may have been taken if Yeltsin's coup had not forced the issue in 1991.

Irina Prokhorova is the editor-in-chief of the Russian magazine and publishing house New Literary Observer. She came to international prominence in 2012 when, with her brother Michael standing as president, she took part in a live presidential debate with a spokesman for Vladimir Putin.

Arch Tait has translated 17 books, 35 short stories and 30 articles by most of the leading Russian writers of today, notably the work of the late Anna Politkovskaya.