A terrifying assessment of the continuing threat of a Russian nuclear attack on the U.S., based on Russian history and an informed analysis of recent military incidents, and written by a military advi
The Russian Revolution of 1917 transformed the face of the Russian empire, politically, economically, socially, and culturally, and also profoundly affected the course of world history for the rest of
The brutal murder of the Russian Imperial family on the night of July 16–17, 1918 has long been a defining moment in world history. This book gives a riveting day-by-day account of the last fou
Emphasizing the destructive process rather than the accompanying attempt to reshape Central Asian cultures, Keller (Russian/Soviet history, Hamilton College) describes what happened to Islam in the Ce
On the Corruption of Morals in Russia, is the most celebrated work of the Russian historian, philosopher and publicist Prince M. M. Shcherbatov (1733–90). Written towards the close of the reign of Catherine the Great, it is half memoir, half polemic, comprising a survey of Russian history in the eighteenth century from the point of view of a moral censor, and an outspoken attack on the decline of morals at the Court of St Petersburg, written by an aristocrat of exceptional erudition and strong conservative views, who was present at the Court of Catherine II, and knew well the persons and events which he describes. The work was not published during the author's lifetime; not surprisingly, since its contents were highly treasonable. The text, which is collated from the three primary manuscript copies of the original, is the first to include all important textual variants.
This is the first book to deal with the work of three important Soivet theatre directors - Alexander Tairov, Evgeni Vakhtangov and Nikolai OkHlopkov - who, although familiar names in the West, are not often the subjects of full-length studies. The present one therefore sets out to introduce their work to theatre specialists and non-specialists alike, analysing individual productions and placing them within the context of their time. The active working life of the three directors spans, in varying stages, the period of revolution and civil war with its accompanying radical artistic innovations; the conservative phase of socialist realism in the 1930s and 1940s; and the more flexible and creative artistic years of the late 1950s and 1960s. The book contains a number of photographs of the original productions as well as a chronology of theatrical and historical events. Worrall's study will be of interest to students and scholars of Russian studies and theatre history.
This book gives a radically new reading of Russia’s cultural history. Alexander Etkind traces how the Russian Empire conquered foreign territories and domesticated its own heartlands, thereby co
The launch of the Sputnik satellite in October 1957 changed the course of human history. In the span of a few years, Soviets sent the first animal into space, the first man, and the first woman. These
In this provocative book, David Calleo surveys German history - not to present new material but to look afresh at the old. He argues that recent explanations for Germany's external conflicts have focused on flaws in the country's traditional political institutions and culture. These German-centred explanations are convenient Calloe notes, for they tend to exonerate others from their responsibilities in bringing about two world wars, namely the American and Russian hegemonies in Europe. As a result of this approach the big questions in German history are still answered with the ageing clichés of a generation ago despite the proliferation of German historical studies. Throughout Professor Calleo examines with some scepticism the concept of Germany's uniqueness and its consequences. In effect, his study stresses the continuing relevance of traditional issues among the Western states. This book, he asserts, should be regarded as a modest dissent from the prevailing view that history either
This richly detailed study traces the shared history of Russia and Islam in expanding compass - from the Tatar civilization within the Russian heartland, to the conquered territories of the Caucasus a
This book is about the interpenetration of culture and personality, specifically Alexander I's Russian Empire, a latecomer in post-Napoleonic European history, and Aleksandr Pushkin, virtuoso improvis
In the annals of Industrialization, the Soviet experience is unique in its whirlwind rapidity. Even more striking was the critical role of women: in no country of the world did women come to constitute such a significant part of the working class in so short a time. They composed a larger percentage of the working class, filled an unprecedented share of jobs in heavy industry, and served as the first targeted 'reserve' for Soviet labour policy and recruitment. As women undercut the strict hierarchies of skill and gender within the factories, they forced male workers to re-examine their ideas about 'masculine' and 'feminine' work, and women's role in the work place. Using new Russian archival materials, Women at the Gates is the first social history of Soviet women workers in the 1930s.
Does a system of great powers necessarily imply a struggle for world primacy? Do great states merely hold onto what is theirs, or do they reach for more? Anthony D'Agostino offers a fascinating new answer to these questions through a fundamental reassessment of the international history of the first half of the twentieth century. From the spatial limits of a purely European great power politics the book looks out to the new horizon of world politics. From the time limits of 1914 to 1945 it considers the interface with nineteenth-century imperialism at one end and the impact of the world wars on the Cold War at the other. This is a global retelling of the expansion of Europe coming up against its limits in the most violent conflicts and explosive social movements yet known to history, the two world wars, the Great Depression, and the Russian and Chinese revolutions.
Does a system of great powers necessarily imply a struggle for world primacy? Do great states merely hold onto what is theirs, or do they reach for more? Anthony D'Agostino offers a fascinating new answer to these questions through a fundamental reassessment of the international history of the first half of the twentieth century. From the spatial limits of a purely European great power politics the book looks out to the new horizon of world politics. From the time limits of 1914 to 1945 it considers the interface with nineteenth-century imperialism at one end and the impact of the world wars on the Cold War at the other. This is a global retelling of the expansion of Europe coming up against its limits in the most violent conflicts and explosive social movements yet known to history, the two world wars, the Great Depression, and the Russian and Chinese revolutions.
The interwar years saw the greatest reversal of political liberalization and democratization in modern history. Why and how did dictatorship proliferate throughout Europe and Latin America in the 1920s and 1930s? Blending perspectives from history, comparative politics, and cognitive psychology, Kurt Weyland argues that the Russian Revolution sparked powerful elite groupings that, fearing communism, aimed to suppress imitation attempts inspired by Lenin's success. Fears of Communism fueled doubts about the defensive capacity of liberal democracy, strengthened the ideological right, and prompted the rise of fascism in many countries. Yet, as fascist movements spread, their extremity and violence also sparked conservative backlash that often blocked their seizure of power. Weyland teases out the differences across countries, tracing how the resulting conflicts led to the imposition of fascist totalitarianism in Italy and Germany and the installation of conservative authoritarianism in Ea
Epidemics have played a critical role in shaping modern Asia. Encompassing two centuries of Asian history, Robert Peckham explores the profound impact that infectious disease has had on societies across the region: from India to China and the Russian Far East. The book tracks the links between biology, history, and geopolitics, highlighting infectious disease's interdependencies with empire, modernization, revolution, nationalism, migration, and transnational patterns of trade. By examining the history of Asia through the lens of epidemics, Peckham vividly illustrates how society's material conditions are entangled with social and political processes, offering an entirely fresh perspective on Asia's transformation.
The interwar years saw the greatest reversal of political liberalization and democratization in modern history. Why and how did dictatorship proliferate throughout Europe and Latin America in the 1920s and 1930s? Blending perspectives from history, comparative politics, and cognitive psychology, Kurt Weyland argues that the Russian Revolution sparked powerful elite groupings that, fearing communism, aimed to suppress imitation attempts inspired by Lenin's success. Fears of Communism fueled doubts about the defensive capacity of liberal democracy, strengthened the ideological right, and prompted the rise of fascism in many countries. Yet, as fascist movements spread, their extremity and violence also sparked conservative backlash that often blocked their seizure of power. Weyland teases out the differences across countries, tracing how the resulting conflicts led to the imposition of fascist totalitarianism in Italy and Germany and the installation of conservative authoritarianism in Ea
This book provides a thorough survey and analysis of the emergence and functions of written culture in Rus (covering roughly the modern East Slav lands of European Russia, Ukraine and Belarus). Part I introduces the full range of types of writing: the scripts and languages, the materials, the social and physical contexts, ranging from builders' scratches on bricks through to luxurious parchment manuscripts. Part II presents a series of thematic studies of the 'socio-cultural dynamics' of writing, in order to reveal and explain distinctive features in the Rus assimilation of the technology. The comparative approach means that the book may also serve as a case-study for those with a broader interest either in medieval uses of writing or in the social and cultural history of information technologies. Overall, the impressive scholarship and idiosyncratic wit of this volume commend it to students and specialists in Russian history and literature alike. Awarded the Alec Nove Prize, given by
Chekhov's masterpiece, about a Russian family losing its ancestral home, combines a lament for a vanishing past with a hopeful dream of the future. In the century since its first performance, The Cherry Orchard has undergone a wide range of conflicting interpretations: tragic and comic, naturalistic and symbolic, reactionary and radical. Beginning with the 1904 premiere at Stanislavsky's Moscow Art Theatre, this study traces the performance history of one of the landmark plays of the modern theatre. Considering the work of such directors as Anatoly Efros, Giorgio Strehler, Peter Brook, and Peter Stein, Chekhov: The Cherry Orchard explores the way different artists, periods and cultures have reinvented Chekhov's poignant comedy of failure and hope.
Until the late 1960s, most Western scholars studying the history, culture, social and political life and economy of Russia and the Soviet Union, paid scant attention to the participation and experience of women. The multifarious ways in which gender roles and perceptions of gender were influenced by and in turn influenced the heterogeneous cultures of the Soviet empire were largely ignored. However, this neglect has slowly been rectified and now the study of women and gender relations has become one of the most productive fields of research into Russian and Soviet society. This volume demonstrates the originality and diversity of this recent research. Written by leading Western scholars, it spans the last decade of tsarist Russia, the 1917 revolutions and the Soviet period. The essays reflect the interdisciplinary nature of women's work, women and politics, women as soldiers, female prostitution, popular images of women and women's experience of perestroika.
