The USSR: A history of the Soviet Union

Explore the dramatic seventy-year history of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, a colossal experiment in social and political engineering that profoundly shaped the twentieth century. This comprehensive narrative delves into the turbulent origins of the Soviet state, tracing its roots back to the crisis of Tsarist Russia and the two revolutions of 1917. It examines the consolidation of Bolshevik power under Lenin, the brutal conflict of the Civil War, and the monumental, often ruthless, transformations wrought by Stalin's forced collectivization, rapid industrialization, and terrifying purges, including the nation's pivotal, devastating struggle in World War II. Readers will gain insight into the complex interplay of ideology, power, and societal change that defined these formative decades.
Continuing through the post-war era, the book navigates the Soviet Union's emergence as a global superpower locked in the Cold War rivalry with the West, exploring milestones like the Space Race and tense confrontations that brought the world to the brink. It examines the periods of de-Stalinization and relative "Thaw" under Khrushchev, the political stagnation of the Brezhnev years, and the persistent undercurrents of dissent and nationality tensions beneath the facade of unity. Finally, the narrative covers Mikhail Gorbachev's ambitious, ultimately unraveling reforms of Glasnost and Perestroika, the stunning collapse of the Eastern Bloc in 1989, the dramatic events of the August Coup, and the swift, complex dissolution of the USSR in 1991, concluding with a look at the enduring legacy for Russia and the independent states of the Near Abroad. This history offers a vital understanding of why the Soviet Union rose, how it functioned, and why it ultimately fell, providing essential context for understanding the contemporary world.