"In the 1990s, as the Soviet Union finally crumbled, political scientist Francis Fukuyama wrote triumphantly about the end of history'. The Soviet utopian project was considered a catastrophe, socialism was dismissed as a fantasy. What was once a closed world was opened, democracy celebrated, a new order arose. But only a quarter of a century after Fukuyama's prediction, as a 'third cold war' is repeatedly heralded, the truth about the Post-Soviet world is becoming harder to fathom . Beyond the often-repeated reports of corruption, political belligerence, inequality, vast wealth and shocking poverty, a different story is waiting to be heard. What is life really like in the Post-Soviet world? What has capitalism brought, and what has it left behind? What are the traditions, practices, and values that remain, and how are they carried forward? Sophie Pinkham is a twenty-seven-year-old journalist, PhD student and aid-worker who's spent several years travelling across Russia, the Ukraine, and Eastern Europe with various AIDS charities. From homeless shelters in Siberia to lavish apartments in St Petersburg to the revolutions that shook Ukraine to its foundations, she has been a witn
