REVIEWS 791 Gel'man, V., Ryzhenkov, S. and Brie, M. Makingand Breaking Democratic Transitions: TheComparative PoliticsofRussia's Regions. The Soviet Bloc and After. Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, MD, Boulder, CO, New York and Oxford, 2003. ix.+ 3IOpp. Map. Tables. Notes. Bibliography. Index. ?57.00? THIs book represents a welcome addition to the growing literature on the politics of Russia's regions. The authors focus upon a total of six different regions within a consistent methodological framework.The regions studied were selected in orderto facilitatecomparativeanalysis,therebyallowing the readerbetter to understandthe differentiatednatureof the ongoing transition in Russia. The case studies are complemented by a rigorousmethodological overview of the subject that at the same time introduces the reader to the methodological preferences of the authors. The authors are to be congratulated for their methodological rigour and the way in which they carefully evaluate the advantages of their approach against other approaches. To this end various types of reform strategies are elaborated, as are varieties of transition. In so doing, the authors demonstrate their familiarity with the wider literature on transition and underpin their own approach. The most valuable conclusion drawn is that from an analytic perspective it is probably best to treatthe regions (duringthe El'tsinyears)as if they were nation-states. Throughout the volume the inabilityof Moscow duringthisperiod to impose its will upon the regions is apparent. Hence the need to view the relationship between the political centre and its various peripheries in a more nuanced fashionthan is sometimesthe case. Ultimately, the authors claim that in Russia, as the millennium drew to a close, three types of transition could be identified. The first they label an 'authoritariansituation',as in SaratovOblast. The second they label a hybrid regime, as in Ryazan' Oblast, and the third, the 'democratic situation', they claim to have found within Volgograd Oblast. In the remaining three oblasts investigatedthey identifythe situationas being 'uncertain'.In each case, what has determined the nature of the transitionhas been the way in which elites have interactedwith one another, and the way in which resourceshave been applied. It is worth mentioning at this point that throughout the volume textualanalysisis accompaniedby a comprehensiveseriesof tablesandfigures that illuminateratherthan obscurethe analysis. The authorshighlight consistentlythe significantactorswithin the regions under consideration, and examine the interactions between the various groups. Within this frameworkthey demonstrate the importance of urbanrural cleavages and show how with careful adaptation the work of Stein Rokkan and Seymour Martin Lipset is still of value to the contemporary political scientist. The main actors identified are a series of elites, such as emergent 'democrats', the regional committee of the Communist Party, the managers cum owners of industrialenterprises,and a variety of elite groups within the agricultural sector. What is perhaps of greatest interest to the reader is how despite the fact that the type of elite remains fairly constant throughout this period of change, the nature of alliance construction varies quite considerablyfrom region to region. Ultimately the volume ends with a 792 SEER, 83, 4, 2005 callfor realismwhen studyingthe field, and acknowledgesthat transitionis an open-ended process that produces a variety of outcomes, many of which are farfromthose originallyintended. The main areas of concern with regardto the volume do not relate to the scholasticprowess of the authors.It is in fact not to be faulted. However, it is clear that the final and introductorychaptersto one side, the remainderwere completed in I999. As a resultthe reformsengineered by PresidentPutin are only takeninto considerationtowardthe beginning and the end of thevolume and then not with the same degree of rigourthat characterizesearlierpartsof the book. Secondly, much of the oeuvre has in fact been published in revised form in a variety of other academic publications. The authorsperhaps could have used the opportunity to consider the impact of the Putin reforms in greaterdetailwithin the main body of the text. These comments notwithstanding, advanced undergraduates,postgraduates and academics will find this to be an essential text that aids our understandingboth of politics in Russia and the natureof political transitions in general. School ofSociology, PoliticsandLaw KARL CORDELL University ofPlymouth Kets de Vries, M. F. R., Shekshnia, S., Korotov, K. and Florent-Treacy, E. T7he NewRussian Business Leaders. New Horizons in LeadershipStudies. EdwardElgar,Cheltenhamand Nothampton, MA, 2004. xxiii + 3I3 pp. Figures...