What goes on behind the Kremlin walls? This was the question that, during the long existence of the Soviet Union (1917-1991), certain figures known as the Kremlin strove daily to answer. KremlinologistsThey supposedly knew everything there was to know about a secretive and complex regime. When the time came, it became clear that they knew almost nothing: the collapse of the Soviet Union caught them completely by surprise. Kremlinologist Europe's most celebrated woman, Hélène Carrère d'Encausse, was a perfect example of that group blinded by its own prejudices.