Books On Soviet Union History

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Rosita Westhouse

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Aug 4, 2024, 3:10:20 PM8/4/24

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Departingfrom a simple linear history, The Soviet Century traces all the continuities and ruptures that led from the founding revolution of October 1917, to the final collapse of the late 1980s and early 1990s, passing through the Stalinist dictatorship, the impossible reforms of the Khrushchev years, and the glasnost and perestroika policies of Gorbachev.

In 1945, the Soviet Union controlled half of Europe and was a founding member of the United Nations. By 1991, it had an army four million strong, 5,000 nuclear-tipped missiles, and was the second biggest producer of oil in the world. But soon afterward, the union sank into an economic crisis and was torn apart by nationalist separatism. Its collapse was one of the seismic shifts of the 20th century.

This book explores the dramatic difference between the Russian and US approach to warfare, which manifests itself across the whole spectrum of activities from art and the economy to the respective national cultures; illustrates the fact that Russian economic, military, and cultural realities and power are no longer what American "elites" think they are by addressing Russia's new and elevated capacities in the areas of traditional warfare, as well as cyberwarfare and space; and studies several ways in-depth in which the US can simply stumble into conflict with Russia and what must be done to avoid it.

The creation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in 1922 was one of the defining events of the 20th century. This new federation, created to embody the ideals of communism and the notion of rule by the people, was intended to be different from any other nation in the world. This utopian vision inspired people around the world, and soon, communism became an international movement. However, the history of the Soviet Union did not develop in the way its originators envisaged.

Stalin had ruled with an iron fist for nearly 30 years before his death in 1953, just as Stalin was preparing to conduct another purge. With his death, Soviet strongman and long-time Stalinist Nikita Khrushchev (1894-1971), became the Soviet premier....

Revised and updated to reflect recent Russian and Western scholarship on the subject, this new edition maintains the 1995 original's distinction as a crucial volume in the history of World War II and of the Soviet Union and the most informed and compelling perspective on one of the greatest military confrontations of all time.

This new edition maintains the 1995 original's distinction as a crucial volume in the history of World War II and of the Soviet Union and the most informed and compelling perspective on one of the greatest military confrontations of all time....

Dawn on Sunday, June 22, 1941 saw the opening onslaughts of Operation Barbarossa as German forces stormed forward into the Soviet Union. Few of them were to survive the five long years of bitter struggle. A posting to the Eastern Front during the Second World War was rightly regarded with dread by the German soldiers. They saw epic battles such as Stalingrad and Kursk, and yet it was a daily war of attrition which ultimately proved fatal for Hitler's ambition and the German military machine.

In just four weeks in the summer of 1941 the German Wehrmacht wrought unprecedented destruction on four Soviet armies, conquering central Ukraine and killing or capturing three quarters of a million men. This was the Battle of Kiev - one of the largest and most decisive battles of World War II and, for Hitler and Stalin, a battle of crucial importance. For the first time, David Stahel charts the battle's dramatic course and aftermath.

In just four weeks in the summer of 1941 the German Wehrmacht wrought unprecedented destruction on four Soviet armies, conquering central Ukraine and killing or capturing 750,000 men. This was the Battle of Kiev - one of the largest and most decisive battles of World War II....

David Engel is Greenberg Professor of Holocaust Studies, Professor of Hebrew and Judaic Studies, and Professor of History at New York University. He is the author of seven books and more than 100 scholarly articles on various aspects of Jewish history in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Anna Shternshis is the Al and Malka Green Professor of Yiddish studies and director of the Anne Tanenbaum Centre for Jewish Studies at the University of Toronto. She is the author of Soviet and Kosher: Jewish Popular Culture in the Soviet Union, 1923 - 1939 and When Sonia Met Boris: An Oral History of Jewish Life under Stalin.

Because the Cold War was so long and had many players and events, a lot of fascinating books have been written about it. Here is a look at 10 of the best Cold War history books for adults. These tales of espionage and intrigue detail a time of suspicion and fear not that far in the past, and include true stories that read like bestselling spy novels.

The Compatriots is a comprehensive look at the exodus of Russian citizens that began at the end of the 19th century, and how Russia took advantage of it by turning some emigrants, including Leon Theremin, the inventor of the theremin, into spies for Moscow. It also looks at the suspicion and persecution Russians abroad faced all over the world.

Above and Beyond is the tense true story of the bravery of two U-2 pilots, Rudy Anderson and Chuck Maultsby, who risked their lives carrying out secret missions during the Cuban Missile Crisis under the leadership of President Kennedy.

Odd Arne Westad delivers a thorough, recent examination of the Cold War, from beginning to end, detailing not just the United States' and Russia's involvement, but also the effect it had all over the globe.

This deep dive explains 1983, one of the most dangerous years of the Cold War. It was when President Reagan launched the Star Wars Strategic Defense Initiative to protect the United States from missiles, which alarmed the Soviet leader Yuri Andropov, who in turn ramped up the Soviet nuclear defense.

Robert Service recounts the beginning of the end of the Cold War. After decades of tension and the looming threat of nuclear annihilation, the US and Russia had reached a peaceful settlement, due largely in part to the election of Mikhail Gorbachev as leader of the Soviet Union in 1985.

The Moscow Rules is a real-life spy story told by the spies themselves! Antonio Mendez and his future wife Jonna were CIA operatives spying on Moscow in the 1970s. The tactics they developed helped CIA officers to outmaneuver the KGB.

Blind Man's Bluff details the use of submarines during the Cold War. They were used to spy on Russia, by tapping underwater telephone cables and using other listening devices. The book also discusses daring missions, lost submarines, and the time Howard Hughes was recruited to steal a Soviet submarine.

Liberty Hardy is a Book Riot senior contributing editor and velocireader in the great state of Maine, where she reads 500-600 books a year and lives with her three cats, who were not alive during the Cold War.

In 1994 he became a fellow at the National Security Archive, non-government organization at the University of George Washington. He continued his academic career in the United States as a visiting professor at Amherst College, Ohio University, Stanford University, and the University of Michigan, and in 2004 became a tenured professor at Temple University.

His books earned the Lionel Gelber Prize and the Marshall Shulman Prize of the American Association for Advancement of Slavic Studies. Professor Zubok received numerous grants from the McArthur Foundation and Carnegie Corporation of New York, and from the Yeltsin foundation and the Russkii Mir foundation. Aside from academic work, Professor Zubok organized a number of international archival and educational projects in Russia, Ukraine, and South Caucasus. He held numerous fellowships, including the Norwegian Nobel Institute, the Wilson Center in Washington DC, Collegium Budapest, the Free University for Liberal Studies in Rome, the Rockefeller Center in Bellagio, and the Hoover Institute at Stanford University.

Professor Vladslav Zubok went to Montreal, Canada on 1st December as one of the three finalists for the Cundill History Prize, along with Ada Ferrer and Tiya Miles. The prize is awarded annually to the book that embodies historical scholarship, originality, literary quality and broad appeal.

In a new essay by Professor Zubok, he focuss on the expansion of NATO and how this helped to tip a fragile balance between pro-Western and anti-American strands of Russia's politics after the Soviet collapse. The piece refers to newly declassified historical evidence, and takes a stab on a synthesis between Putin's geopolitical mythologizing and his attitudes to Ukraine.

Professor Zubok spoke at an online session of the MIT 'Focus on Russia' Lecture Series on 25 April. His talk was on the subject of 'The Collapse of the Soviet Union and the Seeds of the New European War'.

An essay by Professor Zubok on the Soviet collapse and its resonances in the present situation in Ukraine. He argues that the Soviet collapse pointed to the possibility of great reversals and historic surprises. Yet, in invading Ukraine, Putin may have sealed the demise of his political enterprise.