The Soviet Century
Published on 17. February 2005
Book
Hardback
407 pages
978-1-84467-016-1 (ISBN)
Description
The USSR may no longer exist, but its history remainshighly relevant-perhaps today more so than ever. Yet it is a history which fora long time proved impossible to write, not simply due to the lack ofaccessible documentation, but also because it lay at the heart of anideological confrontation which obscured the reality of the Soviet regime. InThe Soviet Century, Moshe Lewin traces this history in all its complexity,drawing widely upon archive material previously unavailable. Highlighting keyfactors such as demography, economics, culture and political repression, Lewinguides us through the inner workings of a system which is still barelyunderstood. In the process he overturns widely held beliefs about the USSR'sleaders, the State-Party system and the Soviet bureaucracy, the "tentacledoctopus" which held the real power. Departing from a simple linear history, TheSoviet Century takes in all the continuities and ruptures that led, via acomplex route, from the founding revolution of October 1917 to the finalcollapse of the late 1980s and early 1990s, passing through the Stalinistdictatorship and the impossible reforms of the Khrushchev years.
Reviews / Votes
Probably no other Western historian of the USSR combines Moshe Lewin's personal experience of living with Russians from Stalin's day-as a young wartime soldier-to the post-communist era, with so profound a familiarity with the archives and the literature of the Soviet era. His reflections on The Soviet Century are an important contribution to emancipating Soviet history from the ideological heritage of the last century and should be essential reading for all who wish to understand it. -- Eric Hobsbawm Rich in its insights and original in its perspectives, Moshe Lewin's superb new book provides a master-class in understanding the structures and intricate workings of the Soviet system. -- Ian Kershaw The Soviet Century is an original and stimulating survey, packed with insights and information, by an outstanding historian. It will enlighten both specialists and general readers about a crucial aspect of the modern world. -- R. W. Davies Moshe Lewin ... has written a book of gripping scholarship. In The Soviet Century he shows that the world cannot turn its back on Russia's past, and neither Russians nor anyone else should try to do so. As Lewin writes, the Soviet system may be dead and buried but it lives on in Russia's search for a national identity. This search needs to be based on the truth, good or bad, about what happened under Communism. The Soviet Century is an excellent place to look for it. -- Mark HarrisonMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Dimensions
Height: 244 mm
Width: 165 mm
Thickness: 36 mm
Weight
889 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-84467-016-1 (9781844670161)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
New editions
Persons
Moshe Lewin was a hugely respected historian of the Soviet Union. Professor of Soviet Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, his books include Stalinism and Nazism: Dictatorships in Comparison and The Making of the Soviet System: Essays in the Social History of Interwar Russia.