Margins
Cambridge Russian, Soviet and Post-Soviet Studies book cover 1
Cambridge Russian, Soviet and Post-Soviet Studies book cover 2
Cambridge Russian, Soviet and Post-Soviet Studies book cover 3
Cambridge Russian, Soviet and Post-Soviet Studies
Series · 38
books · 1977-2010

Books in series

The Liberation Movement in Russia 1900–1905 book cover
#1

The Liberation Movement in Russia 1900–1905

2002

Historians of the Russian Revolution naturally tend to concentrate their attention upon the Bolshevik 'victors' and on the Mensheyiks - ideologically the closest of their rivals, - and to neglect other political movements. For the Russian Liberals at least, Dr Galai redresses this imbalance. This book traces the nineteenth-century origins of the Liberation Movement (also known as the Liberal Movement), the social and historical conditions which led to its formation in the first years of the twentieth century, its policies, influence, initial success and ultimate failure. Against the background of the political and social crisis culminating in the 1905 Revolution, Dr Galai traces the stages by which the Liberation Movement became supreme among the forces of opposition but ultimately was defeated and disintegrated. It failed to fulfil its aim of replacing Tsarist autocracy by a constitutional-democratic regime and to demonstrate effectively that there was an alternative to the extremes of Tsarism and Bolshevism.
#5

The Precarious Truce

Anglo-Soviet Relations 1924-27

1977

Lenin's death at the beginning of 1924 coincided with an exhaustive search by the USSR for a modus vivendi with the capitalist world. In laying the foundations of peaceful co-existence, priority was given to the cultivation of relations with Britain. This study examines the British government's various responses to the Soviet overtures. The scope of the work ranges from Labour's de jure recognition of the Soviet Union at the beginning of 1924 to the Conservatives' severance of relations in May 1927. The bulk of the study is set against the background of rapidly deteriorating relations and traces the unsparing measures employed by the Russians to forestall an open breach. Equal attention is paid to the Soviet government's straightforward diplomatic moves and to activities under the auspices of Comintern and the Soviet trade unions which rallied support without regard to frontiers or international protocol. The main aim was to strengthen the security and economic recovery of the Soviet Union, but revolutionary aspirations remain on the agenda.
Soviet Book Publishing Policy book cover
#6

Soviet Book Publishing Policy

1978

This book first published in 1978 provides a broad and comprehensive view of the Soviet book publishing industry based on extensive use of Soviet sources and on visits and interviews conducted in the Soviet Union. Book publishing is examined both as a manufacturing and distributing industry enmeshed in the machinery of central planning, and as a disseminator of ideas influenced and controlled by the organs of government, the Communist Party and the censorship. A 'policy approach' is used to study the operations and management of the vast Soviet publishing industry, examining the complex pressures which affect its administration and the impact those pressures have on books published in the USSR. The powers of the Communist Party, government ministries and the censorship over the publishing houses are analysed. The perspective of the book is wide enough to take in questions about the place of the author in the publishing process and the role played by printing and book-selling. Attention is paid to the special problems in publishing different types of fiction, textbooks, scientific works, mass political literature and so on.
Socialism and Democracy in Czechoslovakia book cover
#10

Socialism and Democracy in Czechoslovakia

1945-1948

1981

This book is about the political, social and economic changes in Czechoslovakia in the years 1945– 1948. In 1945 the 'national revolution' established the Communist Party as the dominant force within a coalition government. The leading Communists then evolved the idea of a specific Czechoslovak road to socialism that could bypass the 'dictatorship of the proletariat'. By analysing in detail the revolutionary events and the society that emerged from them, the book demonstrates that there was a real possibility of developing a distinct model of socialism containing a plurality of parties and a sizeable private sector. Such thinking, however, was effectively ended in February 1948, when the Communist Party established a monopoly of power. The fundamental causes of this change in the party's strategy are to be found, it is argued, in the international situation. The February events were of international significance as they confirmed the division of Europe into two blocs. The concluding chapter shows how important they were for the subsequent development of Czechoslovak society.
Soviet Trade Unions book cover
#11

Soviet Trade Unions

Their Development in the 1970s

1981

This book, first published in 1981, represents a systematic attempt to describe and analyse the evolution of Soviet trade union organisations. It examines union activities both at the national level and on the shop floor. The main focus is on the development and workings of the Soviet trade unions, but their history throughout the Soviet period is also covered. Soviet trade unions were an important component in Stalin's system of rigid control over workers. Beginning with Khrushchev, party leaders sought to dismantle a system rooted in terror while seeking alternative ways to ensure compliance with civil authority. Yet no such way has been found to establish a sense of trust between managers and workers as a basis for such compliance. The question then arises of whose interest Soviet trade union organisations serve - that of the state or that of the workers? In analysing these relationships - especially the relationship between production concerns and worker welfare - Soviet Trade Unions focuses on the nature of change and continuity in Soviet labour relations.
From Embargo to Ostpolitik book cover
#12

From Embargo to Ostpolitik

The Political Economy of West German-Soviet Relations, 1955–1980

1981

Professor Stent examines the development of Soviet-West German relations from both the Russian and German sides using extensive Soviet and West German sources. Hers is the first book in English to cover these topics. She has used a wide variety of materials including documents from the Kennedy administration and interviews with German government officials and business leaders.
The Modernization of Soviet Industrial Management book cover
#13

The Modernization of Soviet Industrial Management

Socioeconomic Development and the Search for Viability

1982

This book first published in 1982 considers the problems of efficiently managing large enterprises which are common to both the West and to the Soviet Union. The growth in management science in the West has been paralleled in the Soviet Union in the years since Khrushchev's fall. Professor Conyngham provides a comprehensive discussion of the efforts in the Soviet Union to develop techniques of scientific management that are consistent with the requirements of communist ideology and a planned economy. The opening chapter outlines the reforms of Soviet industrial management during the post-Khrushchev era and, in particular, indicates the role that increased decentralization has played in the developing importance of management science. Conyngham then concentrates on the generation of management theory and its application to the existing economic system. Topics covered include the emergence of systems analysis as the basic approach to management reform, the application of mathematical models and computers to decision making, and the introduction of economic and behavioural methods of management control. The last part of the book deals with the impact of functional rationalization on the structure of the existing system and the ministerial reforms of the 1970s.
Ideology in a Socialist State book cover
#17

Ideology in a Socialist State

Poland 1956–1983

1984

Ideology in a Socialist State describes the changes in the ideology of Poland's rulers from the October events of 1956 to the lifting of martial law in 1983. Ideology has been one of the most debated and equivocal concepts in social science, yet this is one of the first attempts to examine it in a systematic, longitudinal and empirical way. Dr Taras analyses how central principles of Marxism-Leninism (the leading role of the party, party influence on trade unions, the church, culture and science) were interpreted by Poland's political leaders. Ideological change, he suggests, represents the chief means adopted by, the regime to respond to a postwar cycle of crises. The rulers' ideology is also linked to political developments in other socialist states (the 1968 Czech reform movement, Soviet doctrinal shifts). Taras concludes that as a result of both external and internal factors, ideology in Poland underwent a combination of transformations, innovations and reification that has produced a new hybrid and highly unstable ideology - Leninist Marxism of People's Poland. This puts the tumultuous Polish events of 1981–3 into historical perspective and focuses on the response of the party leadership to the challenge of Solidarity, and of martial law.
Collective Farms which Work? book cover
#20

Collective Farms which Work?

1985

This book analyses Hungarian collectivization from a sociological perspective. Rather than consider Eastern European societies in the light of social stratification and social mobility surveys, it takes as its point of departure the commitment of Eastern European societies to industrialization within the constraints of a socialist economy and, by examining social change from the viewpoint of labour and those who control it, places the focus more strongly than has traditionally been the case on the production of social wealth, and the relations which circumscribe it, rather than on the ways in which wealth is distributed and consumed.
The Economic Organization of War Communism, 1918-1921 book cover
#22

The Economic Organization of War Communism, 1918-1921

1985

This book examines the origins, development and reasons for change of the first Soviet economic system. Programmes are compared with outcomes and theory with practice in the fields of nationalization, workers' control and management, money and planning, industrial organization and food procurement. The organization of military supply and industry is examined separately, to emphasize that the initial approach to economic organization was affected not only by external events, but also by ideology, class struggle and social pressures. The economic and social analysis, which lay behind policy-making, was often distorted by prejudice, and the economic system, which emerged was the result of efforts to replace market relations by administrative measures. Unexpected and unwanted outcomes induced some leaders to rethink initial policies, while others continued to adhere to rigid programmes, even after the conclusion of civil war.
East Germany and Detente book cover
#23

East Germany and Detente

Building Authority after the Wall

1985

The emergence of East Germany as one of Europe's most vocal advocates of East-West détente in the 1980s represented a remarkable political transformation. Prior to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, East Germany had been amongst the most intransigent proponents of the Cold War, largely because of the perceived threat to the domestic authority of its own leadership. Renewed exposure, however, prompted that leadership to regard good relations with the West as integral rather than inimical to its own pursuit of legitimacy. Of interest not only to scholars of communist politics but to all students of East-West affairs, Professor McAdams' study demonstrates both the changing historical significance of the idea of detente, and the way in which non-superpower states can take initially adverse circumstances and turn them into instances of opportunity.
Materials for a Balance of the Soviet National Economy, 1928–1930 book cover
#24

Materials for a Balance of the Soviet National Economy, 1928–1930

1985

This book contains a full translation of a major but little-known Soviet work on Soviet national income accounts for a crucial stage in the social and economic transformation of the Soviet economy from 1928 to 1930. These were years of mass collectivisation and the launching of the Soviet industrialisation drive. The USSR was perhaps unique in having a well-developed statistical service able to record the detailed changes in economic relationships that were taking place at this time. The translation is accompanied by three introductory articles which explain the structure and contents of these materials, what new light these materials throw on the development of the Soviet economy in this period and describe the significance of these materials for the history of Soviet statistics and planning. Amongst other questions this evidence casts some doubt on recent attempts to show that Soviet industrialisation resulted in a change in the net flow of goods between industry and agriculture, in favour of agriculture. It also shows that considerable attempts were made by some influential statisticians and planners in the early 1930s to analyse the relationship between different branches and sectors of the economy. In a foreword Professor Sir Richard Stone sets the achievement of the construction of these materials in the context of the history of Western works on national income accounts.
The Origins of Detente book cover
#25

The Origins of Detente

The Genoa Conference and Soviet-Western Relations, 1921–1922

1985

The Genoa Conference of April-May 1922 saw the first serious and sustained attempt to negotiate a modus vivendi between the newly established Soviet government in Moscow and the western capitalist countries that surrounded it. Drawing upon a wide range of archival and other sources, many of them unfamiliar or previously unexplored for this purpose, this study traces the evolution of Soviet-Western relations from the Revolution up to the autumn of 1921, when the proposal for a conference first began to emerge, and then considers in more detail the course of preconference diplomacy and the proceedings of the conference itself, up to the early summer of 1922. In his final chapter Dr White argues that the failure to resolve East-West differences at Genoa was attributable to a variety of circumstances, but above all to a failure of political will.
Vlasov and the Russian Liberation Movement book cover
#26

Vlasov and the Russian Liberation Movement

Soviet Reality and Emigré Theories

1987

This book deals with the attempt by Soviet citizens to create an anti-Soviet Liberation Movement during the Second World War. The Movement's ultimate importance lies in its expression of grass-roots opposition to the Soviet regime, the first substantial such efflorescence since 1922. The motivation of its titular leader, Vlasov, is examined in detail, as is its fundamental ideology, analyzed within the context not merely of wartime but of prewar Soviet and Russian emigré society.
The Soviet Study of International Relations book cover
#28

The Soviet Study of International Relations

1987

This systematic observation of foreign policy within the Soviet Union shows how such phenomena as nuclear warfare, continued Western prosperity, and the Sino-Soviet split have forced analysts to diverge sharply from traditional Leninist orthodoxy. The result has been a Soviet analysis of world politics that is considerably more complex and politically sophisticated than westerners often assume. This is manifested in an increasingly multipolar world view, accepting the continued existence of the United States, in which the USSR is seen as an integral component of an international system rather than simply as the center of a unique and expanding system of its own. Fundamental to this changing perspective is the perception that no Soviet interests could possibly be served by nuclear war. In an extended preface to this paperback edition, Allen Lynch examines the impact of the recent Gorbachev reform initiative on the intellectual basis of Soviet foreign policy.
Women in the Soviet Countryside book cover
#29

Women in the Soviet Countryside

Women's Roles in Rural Development in the Soviet Union

1987

This book presents the first substantive western treatment of the role of women in Soviet rural development. It analyzes both the gains made and the problems still faced by rural women in a society where development policies have been accompanied by formal commitment to sexual equality. Dr. Bridger first considers the impact upon rural women of social, economic, and political transformation from 1917 until the Kruschev era, and then examines in depth contemporary changes in women's roles and status. Issues such as the nature of women's work, the extent of female participation in the labor force, changing family and demographic structures, and the educational, political and cultural experience of Soviet women are discussed in detail. The problems of unequal access to mechanized work, poor promotion prospects, and inequalities within the marriage that emerge from this analysis are among the topics discussed in Dr. Bridger's conclusion, where she identifies the principal unresolved dilemmas facing rural women, and summarizes the role played by the Soviet government in both advancing and retarding possible solutions.
The Bolsheviks and the Red Army, 1918-1921 book cover
#30

The Bolsheviks and the Red Army, 1918-1921

1988

The emergence of the military agency of the Soviet state is a crucial but neglected aspect of inter-war Soviet history, and in this pioneering study Francesco Benvenuti provides a detailed analysis of the politics (as opposed to the operational activities) of the Red Army during the Civil War. Several historians have suggested that the roots of Stalinism may be found in the Bolshevik experience during the Civil War, and Benvenuti shows that the military opposition inside the party was much stronger than conventionally Trotsky's subsequent political weakness owed much to his ruthless pursuit of military goals not always in direct harmony with party interests, as did his technocratic attempts to extend the role of specialist advisers at the expense of party officials.
An Algebra of Soviet Power book cover
#32

An Algebra of Soviet Power

Elite Circulation in the Belorussian Republic 1966–86

1989

The control of office has long been regarded as the key to understanding power and policy in the Soviet system. What, however, accounts for this control of office? Numerous conventional studies have addressed this question by focusing on the individuals who make up the Soviet elite at one time or another. This book adopts a different perspective by treating the personnel system itself as a set of power relations that govern the mobility of the individuals within it. Using the Belorussian Republic as the site of the investigation, the author analyzes the movements of individuals as sequences of complex interrelations structured by the system. He demonstrates how regionalism has played an important role and patronage the decisive role in shaping the patterns of elite circulation in Belorussia, and outlines changes in these same patterns following the advent of the Gorbachev leadership, changes that were anticipated in some respects by events in Belorussia.
Poland's Journalists book cover
#33

Poland's Journalists

Professionalism and Politics

1990

Poland's Professionalism and Politics examines the position of journalists and journalism in Poland from the beginning of the country's trauma and revolts in 1948 until the disappointments of Solidarity and its repression by martial law in the 1980s. The author explores journalists' responses—both professionally and politically—to their country's crises, and convincingly argues that they shared common interests and values; that they developed formal and informal organizations and that their self-identification as a professional group is comparable with their journalistic counterparts in the West. This book draws on a variety of published sources, on some 249 interviews with journalists and on surveys. It provides a unique case study of Polish journalists and is a major contribution to the sociological study of professionalism under communism.
Latin America through Soviet Eyes book cover
#34

Latin America through Soviet Eyes

The Evolution of Soviet Perceptions during the Brezhnev Era 1964–1982

1990

Latin America Through Soviet Eyes provides an original and comprehensive assessment of changing Soviet perceptions of politics in Latin America during the Brezhnev years. Using a wealth of Russian, Spanish and English language sources, Dr. Prizel surveys the views of Soviet academics and journalists as well as those of politicians on three main areas. He explores the changing Soviet perceptions of Latin America's domestic politics including the Church, the military and national liberation movements. The author examines the role of Latin America in global politics and the way in which the United States has influenced regional events, and he discusses the emerging Soviet-Latin American relationship.
The Soviet Union in the Horn of Africa book cover
#35

The Soviet Union in the Horn of Africa

The Diplomacy of Intervention and Disengagement

1990

The Soviet Union in the Horn of Africa is the first major attempt to address the paradoxes of Soviet behavior in the area. Dr. Patman provides a careful historical background to the recent conflicts and shows how the Soviet Union and its East European partners dramatically switched from being close allies of Somalia to allies of Ethiopia—intervening in the Ethiopian-Somali war of 1977-8 to ensure the military defeat of their former ally. However, he does not confine himself simply to retrospective analysis. He also assesses the Soviet experience in the region in the decade since 1979, and considers in particular the impact of Gorbachev's new thinking and the new diplomacy.
The Origins of the Stalinist Political System book cover
#36

The Origins of the Stalinist Political System

1990

The Origins of the Stalinist Political System offers new and challenging perspectives on Soviet political development from October 1917 until the outbreak of war in June 1941. Explanations of the emergence of a Stalinist political system have hitherto concentrated upon either impersonal factors, such as economic backwardness and the process of bureaucratisation, or Stalin the political actor and the intricacies of elite conflict. Graeme Gill examines the relationship between institutional structures and the conventions, which are created to shape the activities of individuals and considers centre/periphery relations. He divides this period into four sequential but distinct political systems and examines how the patterns of these relationships shaped the course of development to 1941. This book incorporates a great deal of new material. It will become essential reading for specialists in, and students of Soviet history with special reference to politics under Stalin, the 1920s and the 1930s.
The Foreign Policy of the GDR in Africa book cover
#37

The Foreign Policy of the GDR in Africa

1990

This book presents the first comprehensive account of the foreign policy of East Germany in Africa from the early 1950s to the present day. The author challenges the conventional notion that the GDR's role in Africa is solely that of a proxy for the USSR. Instead, as he convincingly argues, East German foreign policy in general and in Africa in particular, should be understood as a strategy both in pursuit of affiliation with the USSR and in search of international recognition and legitimacy.
India and the Soviet Union book cover
#38

India and the Soviet Union

Trade and Technology Transfer

1991

This is the first comprehensive study of trading relations between India and the Soviet Union and the transfer of technology from the latter to the former country. Santosh Mehrotra begins by outlining Indian economic strategy since the 1950s and the place of Soviet and East European technical assistance within this. He considers Soviet economic interests in LDCs in general and India in particular and discusses the special geopolitical relationship between India and the Soviet Union. He goes on to examine Soviet technological transfer to India since 1955 and analyzes legal contracts, markets, labor and managerial skills, technical adaptation and the provision of "follow up" facilities by providing illuminating and detailed case studies of particular industries. In the final chapters, the author considers Indo-Soviet trade in the 1970s and 1980s, covering payment arrangements and bilateral trading and compares the terms of the relationship with India's trade relations with the rest of the world.
Professionals, Power and Solidarity in Poland book cover
#39

Professionals, Power and Solidarity in Poland

A Critical Sociology of Soviet-Type Society

1991

Michael Kennedy develops a theoretical conception of Soviet-type societies by analyzing Solidarity's significance on three levels. First, he explains the background to and nature of the conflict between Solidarity and the authorities by examining the relation between the distribution of power and movement strategies. Second, he considers the implications of Solidarity's struggle for the theory of the Soviet-type system's reproduction and transformation by offering a critique and synthesis of relevant theories of class and civil society. Third, he examines the internal constitution of Solidarity in terms of gender and, in particular, cross-class alliances. He argues that because engineers and physicians were dependent on the self-organized working class in this conflict between civil society and state, professional projects had to be recast in visions suitable to the alliance. In a concluding chapter, he explores the implications of his analysis both for understanding perestroika in the Soviet Union and more generally for reformulating a critical sociology of Soviet-type societies.
The Struggle for Soviet Jewish Emigration, 1948-1967 book cover
#40

The Struggle for Soviet Jewish Emigration, 1948-1967

1991

In this important new study of Soviet Jewry, Yaacov Ro'i examines their struggle for emigration from the establishment of the State of Israel to the outbreak of the Six-Day War. Using a range of personal interviews, he explores how Jewish self awareness arose both as a result of the founding of the State of Israel and as a product of the Holocaust. Local groups developed and sustained Jewish cultural interests and their Jewish identity in the face of popular anti-Semitism and Soviet policy. The author continues by analyzing the campaign conducted in the West and mobilized by the Israeli government on behalf of Soviet Jewish rights as a whole and emigration in particular. Ro'i convincingly argues that despite the efforts of Soviet Jewish groups to flourish in a steadfastly anti-Semitic system, by 1967 most had accepted that the only way of implementing their Zionist aspirations was to emigrate to Israel. However, without the extensive groundwork carried out in the period 1948-1967, it is doubtful if the mass emigration of the 1970s would have been possible.
East-West Financial Relations book cover
#41

East-West Financial Relations

Current Problems and Future Prospects

2010

This is the first study to analyze the problems of Eastern Europe's convertible currency external debt situation and its impact on the financing of East-West trade in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Dr. Zloch-Christy addresses four main issues. First, she examines the recent reforms in Eastern Europe's economic political relations. Secondly, she assesses whether convertible currency debt problems are an inherent part of the economic development of Eastern Europe and if the problems are regionwide, and she discusses the strategies adopted for dealing with them. The author then explores the extent to which the problems arising from indebtedness have affected the financing of East-West trade. Commercial and production compensation, various forms of credit and funding from international financial institutions are the main financial arrangements discussed. Finally, Dr. Zloch-Christy assesses medium and long-term debt prospects both for Eastern Europe as a whole and for each country within the CMEA.
Patronage and Politics in the USSR book cover
#43

Patronage and Politics in the USSR

1991

How do Soviet politicans rise to power? How are conflicting political interests brought together as policies are developed? Historians and political scientists have long been absorbed by these questions, yet none has systematically examined the crucial role played by patron-client relations. In Patronage and Politics in the USSR Professor John Willerton offers major new insights into the patronage networks that have dominated elite mobility, regime formation and governance in the Soviet Union for the past twenty-five years. Using the career details of over two thousand national and regional officials, John Willerton traces the patron-client relations underlying recruitment, mobility and policy-making.
From Ostpolitik to Reunification book cover
#44

From Ostpolitik to Reunification

West German-Soviet Political Relations since 1974

1992

This book explores the development of relations between West Germany and the Soviet Union. Avril Pittman examines from a West German perspective four issues central to this relationship in the 1970s and early 1980s. She looks at the position of ethnic Germans living in the Soviet Union; the central role of Berlin; the triangular relationship among West Germany, the Soviet Union and East Germany; and the effects of the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan. In her concluding chapter, the author outlines the historic opening of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany and assesses the extent to which they represent a continuity in West German-Soviet relations.
Soviet Nationality Policy, Urban Growth, and Identity Change in the Ukrainian SSR 1923-1934 book cover
#45

Soviet Nationality Policy, Urban Growth, and Identity Change in the Ukrainian SSR 1923-1934

1992

This book analyzes the precarious relationship between Soviet legitimacy building and the consequences of rapid industrial development in the Ukranian Soviet Socialist Republic during the 1920s and 1930s. George Liber traces the impact of rapid urban growth on the implementation of Soviet preferential policies, korenizatsiia. He shows how the interplay among industrialization, urbanization and korenizatsiia produced a modern, urban Ukranian identity, and he argues that this explains why the Stalinist leadership changed its course on the nationality question in the 1930s.
Investment and Property Rights in Yugoslavia book cover
#46

Investment and Property Rights in Yugoslavia

The Long Transition to a Market Economy

1992

In this book, Milica Uvalic examines the theoretical and empirical issues related to investment in Yugoslavia since 1965. She explores investment policies, sources of finance, macroeconomic performance, enterprise incentives and current property reforms in relation to Western theory on investment behavior in the labor-managed firm and Kornai's theory on socialist economies. In line with Kornai's theory, the author argues that the fundamental causes of problems in Yugoslavia are generic to socialist economic systems, rather than the specific characteristic of self-management.
The Politics of Economic Stagnation in the Soviet Union book cover
#48

The Politics of Economic Stagnation in the Soviet Union

The Role of Local Party Organs in Economic Management

1992

Peter Rutland analyzes the role played by regional and local organs of the Soviet Communist Party in economic management from 1970 to 1989. Using a range of Soviet political and economic journals, newspapers and academic publications, he examines Communist Party economic interventions in construction, energy, transport, consumer goods, and agriculture. He convincingly argues that party interventions hindered rather than assisted the search for efficiency in the Soviet economy and represent a major obstacle to the current economic reform movement.
Government, Industry and Rearmament in Russia, 1900–1914 book cover
#50

Government, Industry and Rearmament in Russia, 1900–1914

The Last Argument of Tsarism

1994

This book examines the ability of the tsarist government and Russian industrialists to respond to the multiple challenges of war, revolution, political reform, international diplomacy and rearmament in the early twentieth century. Using Russian archive materials, Peter Gatrell analyzes the process and outcome of decision-making by government and business in the key sphere of defense, and makes an important contribution to the literature on the capacity of the old regime to fend off challenges to its authority at home and its prestige abroad.
The Collapse of a Single-Party System book cover
#52

The Collapse of a Single-Party System

The Disintegration of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union

1994

In this book Graeme Gill traces the disintegration of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until the dissolution of the USSR in December 1991. The first book to follow the debates in the party over the implications of Gorbachev's reforms and how the party should respond to them, this study is also an in-depth analysis of the institutional dynamics of a party under pressure, showing how Gorbachev's reforms and the new political forces that grew up in their wake created disunity and fragmentation that ultimately led to the collapse of the most powerful single-party state in history.
Accounting for War Soviet book cover
#54

Accounting for War Soviet

Production, Employment, and the Defence Burden, 1940–1945

1996

How did the Soviet Union compare economically with its allies and adversaries before and during World War II? Was Soviet economic survival under massive German attack to be expected? What was the cost of the war in rubles, lives and foregone postwar economic well-being? In this book Mark Harrison answers these questions, providing a comprehensive analysis of the hitherto secret Soviet statistical record.
Poland's Protracted Transition book cover
#55

Poland's Protracted Transition

Institutional Change and Economic Growth, 1970–1994

1997

In this book Kazimierz Poznanski offers an integrated study of institutional change in the Polish economy since 1971. He examines the economic peak of the communist phase, the decline of the system, and the post-communist transition since 1989. He provides a complete reevaluation of conventional views of communist economies and the post-communist transition, arguing that the political pressures that affected the communist system have continued to have a disastrous impact on recent "shock therapy" reforms.
National Identity and Foreign Policy book cover
#56

National Identity and Foreign Policy

Nationalism and Leadership in Poland, Russia and Ukraine

1998

This book argues that the foreign policy of any country is heavily influenced by national identity. This is especially the case in East-Central Europe where political institutions are weak, and social coherence remains subject to the vagaries of the concept of nationhood. Ilya Prizel's study examines the history and politics of Russia, Poland and Ukraine, and will be of interest to students of nationalism, as well as foreign policy and politics in East-Central Europe.
Modernising Lenin's Russia book cover
#57

Modernising Lenin's Russia

Economic Reconstruction, Foreign Trade and the Railways

1995

In this book Anthony Heywood reassesses Bolshevik attitudes toward economic modernization and foreign economic relations during the early Soviet period. Based on hitherto unused Russian and Western archives, the book examines an extraordinary decision made in March 1920 to import vast quantities of railway equipment in order to achieve rapid economic modernization. This is the first detailed case study of the government's import policy, and provides readers with a new perspective on Soviet economic development, revealing the scale of Bolshevik business dealings with the capitalist West immediately after the Revolution.

Authors

Angela Stent
Author · 3 books
Angela Stent is director of the Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies and a professor of government and foreign service at Georgetown University. From 2004 to 2006, she served as national intelligence officer for Russia and Eurasia at the National Intelligence Council. She is the author of The Limits of Partnership: US-Russian Relations in the Twenty-First Century, for which she won the American Academy of Diplomacy’s Douglas Dillon prize for the best book on the practice of American diplomacy.
Martin Myant
Author · 1 book
Martin Myant was a lecturer in Economics at Paisley College of Technology.
George O. Liber
George O. Liber
Author · 1 book
George O. Liber is Associate Professor Department of History, University of Birmingham Alabama He is the author of Soviet Nationality Policy, Urban Growth, and Identity Change in the Ukrainian SSR, Press, Cambridge University Press 1992).
Stephen G. Wheatcroft
Author · 1 book
Stephen G. Wheatcroft FASSA is professor of history at Deakin University.
Peter Gatrell
Author · 5 books
A historian specializing in population displacement in the modern world and the economic and social history of Russia, Peter Gatrell is emeritus professor at the University of Manchester. He earned his undergraduate and PhD degrees from the University of Cambridge.
Gabriel Gorodetsky
Author · 3 books
Gabriel Gorodetsky is a Quondam Fellow of All Souls College, University of Oxford, and emeritus professor of history at Tel Aviv University. He is the author of Grand Delusion: Stalin and the German Invasion of Russia.
A. James McAdams
Author · 2 books
A. James McAdams is the William M. Scholl Professor of International Affairs and director of the Nanovic Institute for European Studies at the University of Notre Dame.
Stephen White
Stephen White
Author · 2 books

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. This entry refers to Stephen {^2} White, author of Russian books. See this thread for more information. Stephen White is the James Bryce Professor of Politics and a Senior Research Associate of the University's School of Central and East European Studies. He graduated from Trinity College Dublin in history and political science, and then completed a PhD in Soviet studies at Glasgow - including an exchange year at Moscow State University - and a DPhil in politics at Wolfson College Oxford. He is the chief editor of the Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics (Routledge, quarterly), and was for some time also the editor of International Politics (Palgrave, quarterly).

Robert William Davies
Author · 3 books
Robert William Davies was a British historian, writer and professor of Soviet Economic Studies at the University of Birmingham. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from the School of Slavonic and East European Studies at the University of London in 1950 and his Ph.D. in Commerce and Social Science from the University of Birmingham.
Silvana Malle
Author · 1 book
Silvana Malle is emeritus professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Verona.
548 Market St PMB 65688, San Francisco California 94104-5401 USA
© 2025 Paratext Inc. All rights reserved
Cambridge Russian, Soviet and Post-Soviet Studies