"The culmination of an ambitious and extraordinarily productive eight-year multi-author study of the various dimensions of Russian modernisation, the outlines of a new paradigm are presented here, combining wide-ranging interdisciplinary investigations, social theory and the best of area studies. Containing a wealth of theoretical insight and empirical analysis by an impressive range of specialists, this pioneering volume applies the concept of modernisation while modernising the concept itself." - Richard Sakwa, University of Kent, UK."A beacon of cool, perceptive empirical analyses and open-ended theorization in a field infested with fixed ideas and ideologies. Illuminating." - Göran Therborn, emeritus, University of Cambridge, UK.