The Union Moujik

In this brave and chilling account of the post-Soviet space, the author provides us with a fascinating insight into Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and the other republics of the Soviet Union through the larger-than-life character of Boris Petrenkov who leads us by the hand through his world, his mind, and the characters he interacts with. This smooth and fascinating ride into a part of the world that people find mysterious comes with explosive revelations that take us through history from the times of Kievan Rus a millennia ago, to the Golden Horde of the Mongols, czarist Russia, the Soviet Union and to contemporary times. We live with our hero and his fellow muzhiks as they navigate the post-Soviet space and the unique larger world that they have come to dominate as movers-of-the-movers.

This engrossing and eye-opening story that began in one of the world's most mysterious regions is also replete with drama and intrigue and explains in a peculiar manner the Ukraine-Russia conflict and the other schisms in the lands of the former Soviet Union. The account leaves the reader with the understanding that many of the baffling events in that Eurasian landmass were accurately predicted decades ago.

This gracefully written work by Janvier Chando convincingly portrays the forces that make the complex enigma that encompasses Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, the Cossacks, and the Russian soul. We get to understand the qualities that bind the nations from Kievan Rus and the historical accidents that separated them, thus leading to narratives that continue to make them unique entities, with the tragic result that these brotherly Slavic nations are at war with one another today, and risk dragging the world into the abyss in their fratricidal conflict.