"The world is large; Russia is great; death is inevitable."

Almost forty years ago Robert A.D. Ford came across this sentence in a Russian school primer. It stays with him today as an example of the Russian psyche, a psyche that Ford is better equipped to explain than most. He is the only Western diplomat to have known and dealt with all the Soviet leaders from the end of the Second World War to the present: Stalin, Krushchev, Brezhnev, Gorbachev. As a poet and translator of Russian poetry, he also had a special entrée into the Soviet literary world. In this memoir he offers a unique perspective on post-war Soviet politics and Russian life.

Robert A.D. Ford (1915-1998) was a diplomat and poet. Ford joined the Department of External Affairs in 1940 and in 1946 was second secretary in the Canadian embassy in Moscow, where he spent much of his career in various positions, including ambassador (1964-80). Other postings included Yugoslavia and the United Arab Republic.

Robert Ford's profile page

"A contribution to Kremlinology of very great value and importance."

British Journal of Canadian Studies

"Immensely important ... A book to read, reflect on and treasure."

Financial Post

"A first-class account written in straightforward and readily comprehensible prose. The Russia it describes has not yet disappeared and will not for another generation at least."

Canadian Book Review Annual