Perestroika has led to more openness than ever before about Soviet social problems, and it has accelerated the processes of demographic and social change. In this collection a group of leading British, European and North American specialists analyse the central features of a changing society, concentrating upon mortality patterns in the population itself and upon the social problems that have been brought to the fore by glasnost, such as drugs and alcohol abuse.

Perestroika has led to more openness than ever before about Soviet social problems, and it has accelerated the processes of demographic and social change. In this collection a group of leading British, European and North American specialists analyse the central features of a changing society, concentrating upon mortality patterns in the population itself and upon the social problems that have been brought to the fore by glasnost, such as drugs and alcohol abuse.