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As the New York Times Moscow bureau chief in the early 1970s, Hedrick Smith witnessed the inner workings of the Soviet system first-hand and won the Pulitzer prize for his reporting from Russia and Eastern Europe. And as the Soviet system crumbled fourteen years later, Smith was back in Russia - talking to Russians in Russian - bringing book readers and PBS viewers the inside stories from an empire in collapse and a nation in change. His series on perestroika, Inside Gorbachev's USSR, won the top television award in 1991 -- the DuPont-Columbia Gold Baton.

Join Smith as he explores not just Russia, but changes taking place all around our world that will determine how we live, learn, and work in the next century.

The Russians (1975)
Though written over 25 years ago, this best-selling classic remains a definitive work. Moscow bureau chief for the New York Times in the early 1970s, Hedrick Smith explored the soul and psyche of Russia in a way few Westerners have accomplished. This is the story of Russia told in Russian voices - voices that remain relevant as modern Russia struggles to find its place in the world.

The New Russians (1991) From the crises in the breakaway republics to the remarkable rise of Boris Yeltsin, Hedrick Smith delves into the turmoil of a country on the brink of collapse to bring readers the inside stories of Russia's second revolution-the anti-Communist revolution-and the rise of a new generation of politicians and entrepreneurs. Smith describes how Gorbachev launched a revolution that got out of his control.

Inside Gorbachev's USSR (1990) Former New York Times Moscow bureau chief Hedrick Smith returns to the Gorbachev-era Soviet Union in this award-winning PBS series broadcast in 1990. Politicians, business leaders, activists, and ordinary Soviets tell the inside story of Russia's second revolution, the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the rocky road to reform and capitalism in the new era.

After Gorbachev's USSR (1992) Two years after the first big series, Hedrick Smith returned to Russia for PBS Frontline to for a special report on the impact of perestroika at the grass roots. This report was unusual because Smith went back to revisit the Russians he and his viewers met in 1990, from new entrepreneuers to the bosses of big state industries, from farmers to religious dissidents, from Moscow to Siberia.

Guns, Tanks and Gorbachev (1991) A Frontline special on the effort of old guard forces in the Soviet Union to try to repress the rise of nationalism in outlying republics, like Georgia, Azerbaijan, and the Baltics.

Outside Resources:

Russia Today
A good source for daily information on Russian business, politics, and economics.

Russian Government
The official web site of the Russian government contains press releases and an overview of the Russian power structure.

FUNET Russian Archive