Against the Grain-An Autobiography by Boris Yeltsin
Against the Grain: An Autobiography (First UK Edition Hardcover Copy)
The Candid, Definitive Personal Manifesto of the Kremlin Dissident and Architect of the New Russian Revolution
The Candid, Definitive Personal Manifesto of the Kremlin Dissident and Architect of the New Russian Revolution
Bibliographic Specifications
- Title: Against the Grain: An Autobiography
- Author: Boris Yeltsin
- Publisher: Jonathan Cape Ltd, London
- Publication Date: 1990
- ISBN-10: 0224027499
- ISBN-13: 9780224027496
- Edition Details: First UK Edition, First Printing. Standard hardcover release with original unclipped dust jacket.
- Binding: Original publisher's premium textured cloth-covered boards with crisp gilt-stamped typography running down the spine, complete with structurally sound endpapers.
- Physical Format: Octavo (8vo), 263 pages. Enhanced with essential maps of Soviet administrative districts, an extensive index, and a central section featuring rare black-and-white personal and political archival photographs.
- Language: English
Official Condition Report
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The Book: Very Good (VG)
- Exterior / Cloth Boards: The cloth casing remains in exceptional condition, sitting flat, square, and structurally sound. The corners show only microscopic storage friction, and the spine ends are crisp. The spine itself remains completely unbroken, flat, and undamaged, retaining its original structural rigidity.
- Interior: The text block is robustly bound, perfectly clean, and tight. The internal pages and photographic reference plates are completely clean, crisp, and intact. Entirely free of standard user highlighting, ink underlining, dealer pencil marks, or dog-ears.
- Provenance: An exemplary, well-maintained collectible copy showing no evidence of remainder marks, institutional library stamps, or previous owner nameplates.
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The Dust Jacket: Very Good (VG)
- Condition Details: The original, striking dust jacket exhibits vibrant graphics and strong paper structural integrity. It shows very limited, superficial signs of handling and slight edge wear along the outer extremities. It features no significant tears, fading, or open chips, and comes protected in a clear, archival Cellophane cover.
Synopsis & Historical Value
Published in 1990 during the absolute peak of the political earthquake that shattered the Soviet Union, Against the Grain is the historic, self-penned manifesto of Boris Yeltsin. The narrative delivers a powerful combination of straightforward autobiography—detailing his working-class family background, his education as an engineer, and his rise through the provincial Communist Party ranks—and a high-stakes, first-hand account of the legendary 1989 election campaign.
Defying the immense weight of the Kremlin's state apparatus, Yeltsin stood as a dissident candidate for the Central Moscow Constituency and was swept into the Congress of People's Deputies with a staggering 89 per cent majority. Written with a raw, combative style that perfectly matches his political persona, this volume provides a vital, real-time chronicle of his fierce battles with Mikhail Gorbachev and the birth of the modern Russian democratic movement. It stands as an indispensable primary source document captured at the exact crossroads of modern European history.
Author Profile: Boris Yeltsin
Boris Yeltsin (1931–1999) was a historic Russian statesman who served as the first democratically elected President of the Russian Federation from 1991 to 1999. Originally a high-ranking member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, he transformed into a defiant champion of democratic and free-market reforms after breaking away from the Soviet establishment. Globally celebrated for his heroic stand atop a tank during the failed hardline communist coup of August 1991, Yeltsin's administrative legacy includes the ultimate dismantling of the USSR, the introduction of sweeping economic restructuring, and the complex transition into post-Soviet geopolitics.
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