Last of the Empires: A History of the Soviet Union 1945-1991

Keep, John

ISBN 10: 0192892371 / ISBN 13: 9780192892379

Edité par Oxford Univ Press, NY, 1997

A propos de cet article

477 pp., White Color Illus Paperback, Fine as New, 2nd prntng.

N° de réf. du vendeur 095880

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: Last of the Empires: A History of the Soviet Union 1945-1991
• Éditeur: Oxford Univ Press, NY
• Date de parution: 1997
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN à 10 chiffres: 0192892371
• ISBN à 13 chiffres: 9780192892379
• Reliure: Paperback
• Impression: 2nd Printing
• État de l'article: As New
• Catalogues du vendeur:
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A propos de ce titre

Synopsis

Described as `one of the most tragic human experiences in human history', the Soviet Union as an empire holds much intrigue and fascination for the Western world. It held unquestionable status as an empire, with its coverage of over 100 nationalities. Its status as the `Last of the Empires' depends on what the future may hold, but any future `empires' will undoubtedly be based on intellectual and institutional foundations far different from those developed during the Soviet era. Here John Keep presents the narrative history of the USSR, from the last years of Stalin, to the chequered fate of Gorbachev's reform policies, and the ultimate collapse of the empire under manifold centrifugal pressures. Focusing upon political, economic, social, and cultural developments, the book is divided into four parts; the last years of Stalin; Nikita Krushchev's abortive attempts to reform Communist rule; the years 1964-1985, covered largely by Breshnev's long tenure of power; and lastly Gorbachev's abortive attempts to promote a reformed, `democratic', communism. This book is intended for students (A-level upwards) of modern Soviet history; students and general readers interested in dictatorship and the growth and fall of the Soviet Empire.

Revue de presse

Review from previous edition Written in a clear, scholarly but penetrable style, it provides an abundance of information in a form that is accessible to anybody who wants or needs to remind himself of the chronology and content of those tumultuous years in the Soviet Union. It incorporates much of the new information that is emerging in post-communist, post-Soviet Russia, as formerly top-secret archives are opened to Russian and western scrutiny. (Economist)

A shrewd, well-sourced history of the Soviet Union ... [Keep's] fluent narrative heeds murmurs from below as well as diktats from above. (New Statesman & Society)

It is as fortunate as it is productive that Keep is a distinguished and vastly experienced historian of Russia in its several phases, that he should apply the rigour of exacting scholarship and the advantage of perspective to the death of a system whose antecedents and birth he had earlier chronicled. The temperate, scholarly analysis of Last of the Empires provides an exhaustive explanation for this complex, protracted tragedy whose consequences are yet fully to unfold. (Times Higher Education Supplement)

Last of the Empires is filled with interest information gathered from a very broad range of sources which Keep recounts and analyses in a thoroughly professional manner ... judicious and well-informed work. (Times Literary Supplement)