Every period of Russian history has been contentious among historians, and none more so than the era of Yeltsin and Putin. The facts are not in doubt: Russia ceased to be one of the two superpowers; the people suffered privation; social inequalities greatly increased; corruption has been widespread; the low birth rate combined with the high death rate threatens a demographic catastrophe. The question, usually unspoken, remains: what is responsible for the undeniable problems? Is it the residue of the seventy-four-years of communist rule? Or are the current troubles simply the consequence of long mismanaged reforms? Most would agree that it is a combination of the two. Is it seventy-five percent communist past and twenty-five percent reforms? Or is it the other way around? Each of us puts a different degree of emphasis on the two components. By and large those who were especially hostile to the defunct Soviet Union are more likely to blame the heritage of communism and take a relatively more optimistic view of the capitalist present and future. Conversely, those who were attracted to the promise of democratic socialism, who believed in the possibility of a “third way,” are more likely to blame the reformers and Western influences and interventions. These observers take a far more negative attitude toward the Yeltsin-Putin era than the other group.