A major new contribution to understanding the transition of Soviet society from Stalinism to a more humane model of socialism.

Among the least-chronicled aspects of post-World War II European intellectual and cultural history is the story of the Russian intelligentsia after Stalin. Vladislav Zubok turns a compelling subject into a portrait as intimate as it is provocative. Zhivago's children, the spiritual heirs of Boris Pasternak's noble doctor, were the last of their kind - an intellectual and artistic community committed to a civic, cultural, and moral mission.

This gripping historical narrative relates the circumstances that led to the end of the Romanov Dynasty and the Russian aristocracy, the heartrending struggles of the peasants, the violence and bloodshed of the revolution, and the rise of the new social order and its far-reaching consequences that continue to be felt in Russia today. In addition to the causes of the Russian revolution and the events that led to civil war, the narrative delves into the mindset of the Bolshevik leadership and recounts the profound transformation and industrialization of the economy in the Soviet era.

Explores the cultural and ethnic aspects of the early Soviet era, focusing on the way the Bolsheviks and other groups used language. Covers the divided speech communities of the late imperial and early Soviet eras, how linguists contributed to Soviet cultural and national policies during the 1920s and 30s, the successes and failures of the major language reform projects during the 1920s, and the period between 1932 and 1953 when the party state imposed new standards of russification on the country as a whole. The author concludes that while the opportunities and constraints of language reform may have given Soviet leaders their most enduring insights into relations, they learned that language was an essential tool of the dialectical process of history and also a troublesome and treacherous dimension of the human experience. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Gaining momentum in the early decades of the 20th century, a number of fascist and other authoritarian regimes could be found around the world by the 1950s. Many persist into the present day. Often led by oppressive dictators, these regimes share many characteristics, though each differ in various ways as well. This volume examines the historical trajectory of dictatorship, fascism, and totalitarianism; their characteristics; where they intersected and how they differed; and some of the individuals—including Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini, among many others—infamous for violently imposing their often extreme agendas.