In the void left by the fall of Communism in Russia during the late twentieth century, can that country establish a true civil society? Many scholars have analyzed the political landscape to answer this question, but in "The Orthodox Church and Civil Society in Russia," Wallace L. Daniel offers a unique perspective: within the church are individuals who hold the values and institutional models that can be vital in determining the direction of Russia in the twenty-first century.
Daniel tells the stories of a teacher and controversial parish priest, the leader of Russia's most famous...

This lucidly written biography of Aleksandr Men examines the familial and social context from which Men developed as a Russian Orthodox priest. Wallace Daniel presents a different picture of Russia and the Orthodox Church than the stereotypes found in much of the popular literature. Men offered an alternative to the prescribed ways of thinking imposed by the state and the church. Growing up during the darkest, most oppressive years in the history of the former Soviet Union, he became a parish priest who eschewed fear, who followed Christ's command "to love thy neighbor as thyself," and who...