Contributors analyse the preconditions for and processes of nation-building, while the new element is the focus on values in the largest post-Soviet state, Russia.

This final book is the last of a trilogy devoted to the mentality of the Russian people. The first book - "The Price Russians Pay" (2014) gives an idea of what was of value to the people living in Russia, their achievements and failures, what was the cost of wars, revolutions, terror and perestroika. In the second book - "Putin: A Shackled President" (2017), I tried to cover the notion of the Russian mentality "from below," from the position of a private person - in many respects a typical representative of the Russian population - the country's president, Vladimir Putin. It turned out to be a psycho-graphic description of the personality of a prominent, strong-willed person who has already had a strong influence on the development of modern Russia for eighteen years. I tried to show the nature of the national character through one private person. If we proceed from the current state of human civilization, then we can assume that each nation has its own potential for self-development. This potential determines the possibility of the movement of the nation forward along the path of industrial and socio-political progress. Most of the authoritarian harsh regimes have this potential low, it is incomparably more democratic. However, forcibly overthrowing the authoritarian regime from within or from outside, imposing new values on the people, to which it is not yet psychologically ripe, does not always work for the benefit of the people. To describe the Russian mentality, I used the term "values." Values are stable psychological cognitive-emotional processes. Values include needs, goals and attitudes. At present, not the ancient Russian values-archetypes determine the thinking and behavior of Russians, but those values that replaced them, the values that new leaders, transformers-technocrats and visionaries-humanitarians introduce into the consciousness of the people. I devoted my book to studying the values that resulted from this implementation. I singled out in a Russian man exactly twelve values: four of them - basic, eight - auxiliary, socio-psychological. In my opinion, they all fit into the concept of modern Russian mentality. Someone will find this list incomplete. Feel free to add to the list. In my review, the basic values are presented as those that force Russian people to aspire to meaningful action. These are motivational values. They are: 1) Private property 2) Power as a substitute for property 3) The image of an external enemy 4) The image of the inner enemy Socio-psychological values are presented in the form of scales. I would not want to offend anyone by sticking labels, and I did it this way. The reader can decide at which point in the scale he or she belongs as a representative of the Russian people. These scales included: 1) The Scale of Dignity, 2) The scale of Russian Will, 3) The scale of Legal Nihilism, 4) The Scale of Exposure to Verbal Conventions, 5) The Scale of Simulation, 6) The Scale of Honesty, 7) The scale of Trust, 8) The scale of Conservativeness. What gives a person inner strength and self-confidence? Property, trust in people, and a set of everyday and professional skills that make his behavior meaningful and gives dignity and meaning to his actions. Does all this exist in people in present-day Russia? Read the book and decide. The book is written for those who are interested in a fresh socio-psychological view of Russian and Soviet history, culture and politics of the 20th century and how these events influenced the mentality of the Russian people. The book can also be of interest to scientists and students in Russia and abroad.

Bringing together a team of scholars from the diverse fields of geography, literary studies, and history, this is the first volume to study water as a cultural phenomenon within the Russian/Soviet context. Water in this context is both a cognitive and cultural construct and a geographical and physical phenomenon, representing particular rivers (the Volga, the Chusovaia in the Urals, the Neva) and bodies of water (from Baikal to sacred springs and the flowing water of nineteenth-century estates), but also powerful systems of meaning from traditional cultures and those forged in the radical restructuring undertaken in the 1930s. Individual chapters explore the polyvalence and contestation of meanings, dimensions, and values given to water in various times and spaces in Russian history. The reservoir of symbolic association is tapped by poets and film-makers but also by policy-makers, the popular press, and advertisers seeking to incite reaction or drive sales. The volume's emphasis on the cultural dimensions of water will link material that is often widely disparate in time and space; it will also serve as the methodological framework for the analysis undertaken both within chapters and in the editors' introduction.

Material Culture in Russia and the USSR comprises some of the most cutting-edge scholarship across anthropology, history and material and cultural studies relating to Russia and the Soviet Union, from Peter the Great to Putin.Material culture in Russia and the USSR holds a particularly important role, as the distinction between private and public spheres has at times developed in radically different ways than in many places in the more commonly studied West. With case studies covering alcohol, fashion, cinema, advertising and photography among other topics, this wide-ranging collection offers an unparalleled survey of material culture in Russia and the USSR and addresses core questions such as: what makes Russian and Soviet material culture distinctive; who produces it; what values it portrays; and how it relates to 'high culture' and consumer culture.

A new history shows that, despite MarxismÕs rejection of money, the ruble was critical to the Soviet UnionÕs promise of shared prosperity for its citizens. In spite of Karl MarxÕs proclamation that money would become obsolete under Communism, the ruble remained a key feature of Soviet life. In fact, although Western economists typically concluded that money ultimately played a limited role in the Soviet Union, Kristy Ironside argues that money was both more important and more powerful than most histories have recognized. After the Second World War, money was resurrected as an essential tool of Soviet governance. Certainly, its importance was not lost on Soviet leaders, despite official Communist Party dogma. Money, Ironside demonstrates, mediated the relationship between the Soviet state and its citizens and was at the center of both the governmentÕs and the peopleÕs visions for the maturing Communist project. A strong rubleÑone that held real value in workersÕ hands and served as an effective labor incentiveÑwas seen as essential to the economic growth that would rebuild society and realize CommunismÕs promised future of abundance. Ironside shows how Soviet citizens turned to the state to remedy the damage that the ravages of the Second World War had inflicted upon their household economies. From the late 1940s through the early 1960s, progress toward Communism was increasingly measured by the health of its citizensÕ personal finances, such as greater purchasing power, higher wages, better pensions, and growing savings. However, the increasing importance of money in Soviet life did not necessarily correlate to improved living standards for Soviet citizens. The Soviet governmentÕs achievements in Òraising the peopleÕs material welfareÓ continued to lag behind the WestÕs advances during a period of unprecedented affluence. These factors combined to undermine popular support for Soviet power and confidence in the Communist project.

The heralding of ambitions and hardening of geopolitical and military stances by China has given rise to few questions: Did China challenge the United States too hard and too soon and, by doing so, seriously jeopardize its chances of achieving its objectives? Can Washington still contain China's ascendancy and retain its current leading status?This book attempts to explore these questions and analyse if China has tried to display its strength to America too soon. It argues that by comparing the comprehensive national power of the two countries, one may be able to answer the above questions.List of author features on the book: for an Author Interview with the Global Labor Organization.