Book excerpt: It seems every day we hear about Russia. But how much do we really know about that far off place? Travel back in time with the author and get a bird's eye view of life in the old Soviet Union - the society that spawned today's Russia and made indelible imprints on her history and culture. For over thirty years during the Cold War, the former United States Information Agency (USIA) sent cultural exchange exhibits to the Soviet Union and other Iron Curtain countries. This book describes in detail what it was like to serve as a Russian-speaking "guide" at the various cities in which the exhibit Research and Development in the USA was shown in 1972 and contains examples depicting the lives of average Soviet citizens of the time. This is what it's like to live in a society run by a large, omnipotent government. There can be no better time than now to look back at this history. Had the Soviet Union survived as a country, 2017 would have marked the 100-th anniversary of its founding. As we strive to understand Russia's current policies and actions, we need to look at her Soviet roots to fully understand them.