Danks (history, Manchester Metropolitan U., UK) presents an introductory textbook on the politics of Russia that presumes no prior knowledge of the country and avoids social science jargon as far as possible. She first discusses the end of the Soviet Union and creation of the Russian federation. She then describes the characteristics and functions of the federal executive, the federal assembly, Russian federalism, the judiciary, and the armed and security forces. Next she offers chapters on the roles of civil society, the mass media, elections, and political parties in the political process. Issues of reform and the policy process are considered in chapters on foreign and defense policy, the economy and economic policy, and society and social policy. Each chapter contains a chapter summary, discussion points, guides to further reading and useful websites, and references. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)