However, with the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, a true period of democracy was ushered in - and the result was a strange world that is scarcely believable when viewed from the era of Putin.

Political contests were fought between a bewildering array of different parties representing the entire spectrum of beliefs - liberals, communists, nationalists, environmentalists, fascists, social democrats, conservatives, technocrats, separatists, monarchists, women's parties. Sometimes even combinations of ideologies, like 'national bolshevism'.

It was an anarchic time of passionate campaigns and contested elections, political assassinations and blackmail, attempts by parliament to impeach the president and by the president to literally bomb parliament. But most of the political fighting in the 1990s was done via the ballot box or on television.

A fascinated witness of Russian politics, Kenneth MacInnes lived in the country through this unique and exciting era. This book travels through the ten-year period where Russia did democracy, and looks at the chances of it ever happening again.