Russia After Lenin: Politics, Culture and Society, 1921-1929

By Vladimir N. Brovkin

Book Overview

Following the Russian Revolution, the cultural and political landscape of Russia was strewn with contradictions. The dictatorship, censorship and repression of the Communist party existed alongside private enterprise, the black market and open debates on Socialism.
In Russian Society and politics 1921-1929 Vladimir Brovkin offers a comprehensive cultural, political, economic and social history of developments in Russia in the 1920's.
By examining the contrast between Bolshevik propaganda claims and social reality, the author explains how Communist representations were variously received and resisted by workers, peasants, students, women, teachers and party officials. He presents a picture of cultural diversity and rejection of Communist constraints through many means including unauthorised protest, religion, jazz music and poetry.
In Russian Society and Politics 1921-1929 Vladimir Brovkin argues that these trends, if left unchecked, endangered the Communist Party's monopoly on political power. The Stalinist revolution can thus be seen as a pre-emptive strike against this independent and vibrant society as well as a product of Stalin's personality and communist ideology.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0415179912
• ISBN13: 9780415179911
• Release Date: May 1998
• Publisher: Routledge
• Length: 280 Pages
• Weight: 1.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Outstanding Scholarship that Debunks Revisionist History

Vladimir Brovkin's brilliant work "Russia After Lenin: Politics, Culture & Society 1921-1929" clearly demonstrates that the propaganda claims made by the Bolsheviks were largely incongruous with the views held by a majority of Russians. The author demonstrates that Communist ideas were resisted most strongly by those whom the party was purported to be serving-the proletariat. Brovkin further shows that contrary to revisionist histories, Communism was established in Russia following a military coup led by the mearest fraction of society. Brovkin argues that Stalin's campaign of terrordeveloped directly from Lenin's notion of constant revolution and that this policy of terror was adopted in order to perpetuate the Communist Party's monopoly on political power. Brovkin's work is a must read for those who wish to gain a better understanding of how the Bolsheviks consolidated and maintained their dictatorial authority. "Russia After Lenin" is an outstanding book on politics and history that should be considered equal to the monumental books by Richard Pipes.