The Shadow of War

An extremely sure-footed and gracefully written interpretation of the last sixty years of Soviet/Russian history. Lovell exhibits much razor-sharp wit and insight, although almost never at the expense of his subjects. He views Soviet leaders and ordinary citizens from the standpoint of a western observer, but also steps back to observe himself observing his subjects, a perspective all too rare in textbooks. Lewis Siegelbaum, Michigan State University After enduring untold suffering and near total devastation, the Soviet union emerged from the ashes of World War II as a superpower. even now, the Great Patriotic war constitutes the country's single greatest source of national pride and identity - a defining moment in russian history no less significant than the Revolution of 1917. Yet just as the overthrow of Tsarist autocracy is fraught with ambiguities, so too is the legacy of World War II. after liberating itself from nazi occupation, the Soviet union established imperial domination over much of eastcentral europe. But a victorious Soviet society was also poor, hungry, and - for all intents and purposes - still enslaved by the communist regime. The Shadow of War: Russia and the USSR, 1941 to the Present offers a fresh approach to Soviet and Russian history. Taking the achievements, ambiguities, and legacies of world War II as a point of departure, the book reveals the strains on the Soviet system in the postwar decades as it distanced itself from Stalinist repression and reinvented itself as a form of illiberal modern welfare state. The author shows how tens of millions of people moved from villages to cities to reap the benefits of modern civilization, while Soviet society remained divided along class, regional, and ethnic lines - divisions that came into sharp focus with the collapse of the Soviet Union. Drawing on the latest research and a wide range of sources, The Shadow of War greatly enhances our understanding of Soviet and Russian history during a complex and controversial phase of world history.