'Close to a miracle ... an immensely readable overview ... full of anecdotes and lively detail, but also meeting the highest academic standards’
SLAVOJ I EK
The Soviet Union arrived in the world accidentally and departed unexpectedly.
Over a century after the Russian Revolution, the tumultuous history of the Soviet Union continues to fascinate us and influence global politics.
From revolution and Lenin to Stalin’s Terror, from World War II to Gorbachev's glasnost, this is an authoritative distillation of 75 years of communist rule, and the disintegration of an empire.
Fitzpatrick charts the fate of countries often left out of Soviet histories, gives vivid portraits of key figures, and traces the aftermath of the regime’s sudden collapse. She explores the rise of the oligarchs, the rebirth of the Church and the enigmatic figure of Vladimir Putin: a Soviet creation but no Soviet nostalgic. Lastly, she considers the future of Communism. Who still worships Marx and Lenin? What lessons has today’s superpower, China, learned from yesterday’s Soviet failure? What could be the future of Putin’s expansionism?
Review
'Close to a miracle... an immensely readable overview of the entire history of the Soviet Union from 1917 to 1991, full of anecdotes and lively detail, but also meeting the highest academic standards.’
SLAVOJ I EK on The Shortest History of the Soviet Union
'A series of wonderful, horrifying and, at times, hilarious insights into what the top Stalinists were actually like.'
DAVID AARONOVITCH on On Stalin's Team
'A superbly researched, intelligent book’
GUARDIAN on On Stalin's Team
'It might seem strange to describe a book about Joseph Stalin and his entourage as a sheer pleasure, but that's what Fitzpatrick's book is... it manages to convey what was human and complex about something stark and inhuman.'
FOREIGN AFFAIRS on On Stalin's Team
'Fitzpatrick conveys, often with wry amusement, the texture of life as a student in Moscow'
TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT on A Spy in the Archives
'Absorbing... exceptionally lucid... a remarkable record not only of personal history, but of Soviet and indeed British history as well'
GUARDIAN on A Spy in the Archives
'One of the most influential historians of the Soviet period describes what it was like to live in the 1930s – years of unimaginable hardship and brutality, but also of idealism, a surreal melange that [Fitzpatrick] captures with admirable matter-of-factness'
FOREIGN AFFAIRS on Everyday Stalinism
About the Author
Sheila Fitzpatrick is Professor of History at the University of Sydney and Distinguished Service Professor Emerita of History at the University of Chicago. She is considered to be the founder of the field of Soviet history. She regularly contributes to the London Review of Books, and is the multi-award winning author of numerous titles including Everyday Stalinism, The Russian Revolution and A Spy in the Archives.
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