Synopses & Reviews
Russia had an extraordinary twentieth century, undergoing upheaval and transformation. Updating his acclaimed History of Twentieth-Century Russia through 2002, Robert Service provides a panoramic perspective on a country whose Soviet past encompassed revolution, civil war, mass terror, and two world wars. He shows how seven decades of communist rule, which penetrated every aspect of Soviet life, continue to influence Russia today. This new edition also discusses continuing economic and social difficulties at the beginning of the twenty-first century, the military campaign in Chechnya, and Russia's reduced role on the world stage.
Review
Stalin, a sequel to Mr. Service's Lenin: A Biography, presents a richly documented, highly persuasive portrait of the man who transformed the Soviet Union into a modern military-industrial power, terrorized millions and ruled over an empire that would have been the envy of the czars...Brick by brick, Mr. Service constructs a solid, accessible work that does as much as one book can to explain Stalin as a human being, and as the architect of a system that still weighs heavy on millions of citizens in the former Soviet Union.
Review
A fine book...It is a dizzying tale and Service tells it well; he has none of the ideological baggage that has so often bedeviled Western histories of Russia...A balanced, dispassionate and painstaking account. Brian Moynahan
Review
A remarkable work...it demands to be read. Sunday Times
Review
Always well-informed and balanced in his judgments, clear and concise in his analysis...Service is extremely good on Soviet politics. Adam Zamoyski - Spectator
About the Author
Robert Serviceis a <>Fellow of the British Academyand Professor of Russian History at <>Oxford University.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
A Note on Transliteration
Maps
1. The Russian Empire in 1900
2. The Soviet Union, 1924-1936
3. The Soviet Union and Eastern Europe after 1945
4. The Commonwealth of Independent States in 1997
5. The Russian Federation in 1997
INTRODUCTION
1. And Russia? 1900-1914 2. The Fall of the Romanovs 1914-1917
PART ONE
3. Conflicts and Crises 1917
4. The October Revolution 1917-1918
5. New World, Old World
6. Civil Wars 1918-1921
7. The New Economic Policy 1921-1928
8. Leninism and its Discontents 150
PART TWO
9. The First Five-Year Plan 1928-1932
10. Fortresses under Storm: Culture, Religion, Nation
11. Terror upon Terror 1934-1938
12. Coping with Big Brothers
13. The Second World War 1939-1945
CODA
14. Suffering and Struggle 1941-1945
PART THREE
15. The Hammers of Peace 1945-1953
16. The Despot and his Masks
17. 'De-Stalinization' 1953-1961
18. Hopes Unsettled 1961-1964
19. Stabilization 1964-1970
PART FOUR
20. 'Developed Socialism' 1970-1982
21. Privilege and Alienation
22. Towards Reform 1982-1985
23. Glasnost and Perestroika 1986-1988
24. Imploding Imperium 1989
25. Hail and Farewell 1990-1991
26. Power and the Market 1992-1993
27. And Russia? 1994-2002
Afterword: Past and Prospects
Notes
Bibliography
Index