Popular Culture Russia! is designed to offer an introduction to some of the developments in popular culture in the New Russia. This book attempts to chart the development of popular culture in Soviet Russia in broad terms, in order to set the backdrop for a detailed exploration of popular culture under Gorbachev, Yeltsin, and Putin. I have clearly not covered everything but have selected what seems to be most representative of the fast development of contemporary culture in Russia. I could not even claim that I have covered the most important trends,
figures, and events - only history will reveal that.