|
|
|
|
||
|
HELP | |
|
  $17.95 List price:
Used Hardcover
Ships in 1 to 3 days
More copies of this ISBN:This title in other formats:Revolution on My Mind: Writing a Diary Under Stalinby Jochen Hellbeck
Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:Revolution on My Mindis a stunning revelation of the inner world of Stalin's Russia. We see into the minds and hearts of Soviet citizens who recorded their lives during an extraordinary period of revolutionary fervor and state terror. Writing a diary, like other creative expression, seems nearly impossible amid the fear and distrust of totalitarian rule; but as Jochen Hellbeck shows, diary-keeping was widespread, as individuals struggled to adjust to Stalin's regime. Rather than protect themselves against totalitarianism, many men and women bent their will to its demands, by striving to merge their individual identities with the collective and by battling vestiges of the old self within. We see how Stalin's subjects, from artists to intellectuals and from students to housewives, absorbed directives while endeavoring to fulfill the mandate of the Soviet revolution--re-creation of the self as a builder of the socialist society. Thanks to a newly discovered trove of diaries, we are brought face to face with individual life stories--gripping and unforgettably poignant. The diarists' efforts defy our liberal imaginations and our ideals of autonomy and private fulfillment. These Soviet citizens dreamed differently. They coveted a morally and aesthetically superior form of life, and were eager to inscribe themselves into the unfolding revolution. Revolution on My Mindis a brilliant exploration of the forging of the revolutionary self, a study without precedent that speaks to the evolution of the individual in mass movements of our own time. Review:[A] fascinating book...Hellbeck's analysis of his diarists is first-rate, and his enthusiasm for his subject is infectious...This book helps us to understand a particular Soviet mindset of the 1930s...It suggests an intriguing way of understanding the over-the-top enthusiasm that the Soviet regime inspired among some of its citizens in the 1930s. Review:Hellbeck draws on a cache of Stalin-era diaries found through friends in Russia to paint a dark portrait of how ordinary people bent their individual wills to what they believed was a greater good. Review:The study consists of texts and analysis of diaries written during Stalin's rule in the time of collectivization, purges, and labor camps. The diaries show, if taken at face value, a disturbing compulsion to conform; they show that the Cheka's coercive methods had worked on large numbers of Soviet citizens. Review:Jochen Hellbeck has opened up a new way into the private inner world of the Stalin years, a world to which former schools of Soviet history didn't pay much attention...There can't now be a cultural history of the 20th century that ignores the experience of forging the self under the conditions of Communist--and especially Stalinist--rule. Review:The principal service of Jochen Hellbeck's Revolution on My Mindis that it transports us back to that earlier, impassioned revolutionary Soviet Union, a time of epic hope and energy, when the transformation of man and history seemed imminent...Insightful and intelligent...He delivers much that is fresh and useful...This book takes the reader back to those nearly unimaginable times. Review:One of the most important books ever written in the field of Soviet Studies, Revolution on My Mindis a brilliantly conceived, poignant work about the experience of trying to live as a self-conscious Soviet citizen. Beautifully written and analytically compelling, this is a book for anyone who has thought deeply or cared passionately, one way or the other, about Communism and its impact on individual lives. Review:This masterful book looks at the Russian Revolution from an entirely new perspective. It explores how individuals refashioned their personal selves to bring their lives into alignment with the revolution. Far from being oppressed by history, Soviet diarists embraced it; they became the engineers of their own souls. Hellbeck has provocatively rewritten the emotional history of twentieth-century Communism. About the AuthorJochen Hellbeckis Assistant Professor of History at <>Rutgers University. Table of ContentsPreface Prologue: Forging the Revolutionary Self 1. Rearing Conscious Citizens 2. Bolshevik Views of the Diary 3. Laboratories of the Soul 4. Intelligentsia on Trial: Zinaida Denisevskaya 5. Secrets of a Class Enemy: Stepan Podlubny 6. The Diary of a New Man: Leonid Potemkin 7. Stalin's Inkwell: Alexander Afinogenov 8. The Urge to Struggle On Notes What Our Readers Are SayingBe the first to add a comment for a chance to win!Product Details
Other books you might like
Related Aisles
| |||||||||
|
| ||||||||||
|
||||||||||
Don't Miss
