Lay analysts of Church–State relations in Russia have recently had a strong tendency to assess developments in alarmist tones. They see a continuing strengthening of the influence of the Russian Orthodox Church, its support by an authoritarian state and the growing oppression of religious minorities. The triumphant assessments of the situation by representatives of the Church reflect another system of values but their understanding of current processes does not equal that of lay specialists. This book, by American scholars well-disposed towards Russia and Orthodoxy, enable us to set the problem in a broader historical perspective; from this angle the situation looks alarming enough but not hopeless. Peter Berger notes that Orthodox Churches have little experience of living in a pluralist society and that this significantly impairs the democratisation of Church–State relations, even though there is nothing in Orthodox dogma that contradicts it. J. Billington identifies significant circumstances in the historical development of Orthodoxy in Russia that most impede the Church in contributing to the creation of a democratic and just state order. In the current situation in Russian there is one key problem: ‘Truth and reconciliation are missing from the pattern of Russia’. From this Billington draws the logical conclusion: ‘I believe religion will play a key role in determining how Russia will live in the future.’ Wallace Daniel and Christopher Marsh refer to the nature of the current situation, a temporary reaction to the emancipation of Church and society from the absolute power of the communist regime: ‘the 1997 law might be seen not as an ultimate, long-term legislative act, but as a response to circumstances already in existence. The law was not a well-conceived, internally consistent, or carefully prepared law, but a short-term enactment, part of a process in which Russia was trying to find its way’. Analysing the current situation the contributors to this volume highlight historical and sociological factors which determine contemporary authoritarian tendencies. However, they also show that they are limited in nature and are not bound to be pre-eminent in the long-term. The chief contribution of this work is in pinpointing positive trends in Church–State relations and in developments within the Russian Orthodox Church, something that, in the heat of social struggle, Russian analysts have failed to note. Billington expresses the not unfounded hope that parish work, which obliges the clergy to address their parishioners' urgent needs, will create a new of priest-‘pastoralist’ who will initiate grass-roots democracy and the reinvigoration of the Church. Daniel and Marsh are absolutely right to say that, with all their flaws and anachronisms, Church–State relations are more democratic and closer to the rule of law than in any previous period of Russian history, despite all the efforts of reactionary political forces. Perry Glanzer and Konstantin Petrenko note that public dispute about the place of religious education in lay educational institutes is unprecedentedly open and sharp. James Warhola comes to the conclusion that all the attempts of the Putin regime to make Russia a monocultural Orthodox country are doomed to failure. Marsh concludes that Russian public opinion is split on the key issues of the place of the Church in society and that this makes Church claims that are of paramount importance for the country impossible to implement. The authors of the book under review demonstrate a profound and subtle understanding of the current status of religion in Russia. As an original and impartial analysis of the situation this is probably the best recent work, in English or in Russian, on Church–State relations in Russian today.