Smith was the Moscow bureau chief for the New York Times, and this is an explanation of how things really worked in Russia in the 70s. The style is pure expository - like a long article. I suppose the whole thing is dated such that this is historical. I've heard that a sequel is out, but it seems you could only keep up with today's Russia with a monthly.

There's a new one out called The New Russians but I haven't checked it out yet.