Vodka sadly is seen as the symbol of 20th century Russia. Alexandr Nemtsov’s book on alcohol in contemporary Russia is a landmark achievement expressing a unique point of view, highlighting failings in our understanding of Russia’s relationship with alcohol. Political events -- Gorbachev’s anti-alcohol campaign of the 1980s, the collapse of the Soviet system, the introduction of a market economy -- have dictated drinking habits. The consequences have been horrendous. Deaths as a result of crime, Afghanistan and the two Chechen wars are dwarfed by those caused by alcohol in the 1990s. Nemtsov presents statistics and reports not known about in the West, and studies from international medical journals little known about in Russia.