How has Russia's political elite struggled to build a federal system of government out of the rubble of the Soviet empire? This ground-breaking book examines the public debates, official documents, and political deals that built Russia's federal house, and analyzes the strength of its troubled foundation.

Bird Sings At Dawn had not and would not tell others of his spiritual and physical connection to Sha-Red and The Designer, the true Gods in whom his faith was based. Earlier, Designer, once again taking a raven's shape, had reassured him that difficulties in Shimmering Mist's pregnancy would seem insurmountable, but that he and Sha-Red would intervene if necessary. Bird Sings At Dawn had not known of what they had spoken and paid little attention to the comments until the pains before birth had grown so severe as to require strong medicine to put Shimmering Mist in a trance in order to escape...