Books on Russian History
The Second World War has always been and still remains a central theme of foreign historiography. The books on display reflect different aspects of this war. Chris Bellamy in his book
Absolute War. Soviet Russia in the Second World War / Bellamy C. Absolute War. Soviet Russia in the Second World War. New York, 2007 /, using a large number of archival documents that had become available after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, revises many myths about the Great Patriotic War, widely spread in the Soviet historiography, in particular - the myth that Hitler's attack on the USSR was a "surprise". Available documents show that Josef Stalin did not trust Hitler, and understood that war is inevitable, though he could not determine the time of its beginning. The book includes lots of maps, plans and diagrams of battles. The author, professor of military science and doctrine at the University of Krenfildskom ( UK), served long as a correspondent for
The Independent Newspaper. This experience is reflected in his manner of presentation and gives to the narrative effects of report from the scene events. As he points out, the Siege of Leningrad was a microcosm of all the ordeals which the whole Soviet people underwent during the war, a triumph of unprecedented human endurance and courage.
David Stahel in the book
Operation Barbarossa and Germany's Defeat in the East / Stahel D. Operation Barbarossa and Germany's Defeat in the East. Cambridge, 2009 / analyzes the military operations of the first months of the war. According to the author, "Operation Barbarossa" was one of the largest and most expensive companies in history of warfare, and its failure was a turning point in World War II. The operation was planned as Blitzkrieg, and its success depended entirely on the armored troops, primarily on those that were part of Army Group Centre. Using previously unpublished archival documents, the author presents new approach to the summer Germany's company and pays priority attention to the panzer groups under Hoth and Guderian. From his viewpoint, the serious internal problems in Germany's panzer troops, large losses at the beginning of the war and not very successful employment of armored units in "Operation Barbarossa" predetermined the failure of the German offensive in the summer - autumn 1941.
In the book
Moscow 1941: a City and its People at War, Rodric Braithwaite, British ambassador to the Soviet Union and Russia in 1988-1992, talks about the defense of Moscow in autumn 1941 / Braithwaite R. Moscow 1941: a city and its people at war. New York, 2006 /.
The author considers the Battle for Moscow as the greatest fighting of the Second World War. He writes, "...seven million people from both sides took part... The battle swirled over a territory the size of France... The Soviet Union lost more people in this one battle... than the British lost in the whole of the First World War. Their casualties in this one battle were greater than the combined casualties of the British and Americans in the whole of the Second World War." Braithwaite used a lot of archival materials that become available in recent decades. The memoirs and diaries of participants and witnesses from those events, which were cited by the author, enliven the story and allow the reader a glimpse of the defense of Moscow through the eyes of his contemporaries.
Robert Stephan, a CIA officer as well as specialist in the Russian army and intelligence security services, published the book Stalin's Secret War: Soviet Counterintelligence Against the Nazis. 1941-1945 / Stephan R. Stalin's Secret War. Soviet Counterintelligence against the Nazis, 1941-1945. Lawrence, 2004/. Based on declassified U.S. intelligence documents, captured German archives and Russian archival sources made available recently, the author tells about the massive and cruel war of the Soviet counterintelligence service against intelligence and sabotage operations by Nazi Germany. In the book, particular attention is given to such Soviet intelligence operations as "The Monastery" / 1942-1944 / and "Berezino" / 1944-1945 /, as well as an attempt to assassinate Stalin in the summer of 1944, undertaken by the German secret service agents in Operation Zeppelin. These and many other moments in the history of confrontation between the Soviet and German intelligence services found a new interpretation on the pages of a book by American author.
Post-war period in the life of our country is analyzed in the monograph of the British professor Yoram Gorlizki and memer of the State Archive of the Russian Federation Oleg Khlevniuk
Cold Peace: Stalin and the Soviet Ruling Circle, 1945-1953 / Gorlizki Y. Khlevniuk O. Cold peace: Stalin and the Soviet ruling circle, 1945-1953. Oxford, 2005 /. Using newly discovered archival documents, personal correspondence, recent memoirs and interviews with former officials and family members of leaders of the country, the authors examine the complex set of relations of Stalin with his closest associates. While many researchers tend to call Stalin's behavior in these years paranoid and irrational, the authors see in the actions of the leader clear political logic and the desire to establish the Soviet Union as a new world superpower.
Vladislav Zubok, a professor at Temple University (USA), in his book A Failed Empire: The Soviet Union in the Cold War from Stalin to Gorbachev / Zubok V. A Failed Empire: the Soviet Union from Stalin to Gorbachev.Chapel Hill, 2003 / offers a Soviet perspective on the "Cold War" for the first time in foreign historiography. The author shows the birth of confrontation of the two superpowers in the days of Stalin, says about Khrushchev's contradictory attempts to improve relations with the West, Brezhnev's sincere efforts to ease international tension, and Gorbachev's firm intentions to end the "Cold War". Zubok believes that the western side exaggerated aggressiveness and pragmatism of the Soviet leadership. Newly disclosed documents reveal that the Soviet leaders themselves were prone to unreasonable fears, illusions and misconceptions about the West.
Mark Edele, Professor of the University of Western Australia, published a monograph on the little-known topic
Soviet Veterans of the Second World War: A Popular Movement in an Authoritarian Society, 1941-1991 / Edele M. Soviet Veterans of the Second World War: A Popular Movement in an Authoritarian Society, 1941-1991. Oxford, 2008 /. The book shows how this large group of people began forming in the postwar period, how the veterans got recognized as a separate organization with its privileges and facilities, what prejudices from authorities they had to overcome on the way to the recognition.
A number of books explore the current state of Russia after the disintegration of the Soviet Union. The collection of articles Restoration of class society in Russia? issued by the British publishing house Ashgate / Restoration of Class Society in Russia? Ed. Nikula J. Aldershot, 2002 / present an analysis of the social structure in modern Russia. The authors examine the changes in the social structure and class formation during the 1990s, reveal the differences between Russian and Western capitalism, trace the transformation of mass consciousness and identify the distinguished characteristics of a society in transition from one socio-economic system to another.
The expert in political science, Professor of the University of Kansas Dale Herspring touches upon a very important subject of modern Russian history - the current state of the armed forces. In his book
The Kremlin and the High Command: Presidential Impact on the Russian Military from Gorbachev to Putin / Herspring D. The Kremlin and the High Command: presidential impact on the Russian military from Gorbachev to Putin. Lawrence, 2006 /, the author offers a look at the evolution of Russia's armed forces during the past 25 years through the prism of relations between heads of the country and military leadership. He believes that Gorbachev and Yeltsin , by their actions, contributed to a decrease in the army's prestige and its role in society, brought the army into political and ethnic conflicts, disregarding the opinion of military people themselves. Under Putin, in his opinion, the situation has changed. On the one hand, the military have lost the former autonomy, but on the other - they have received funding for the development of the armed forces. The new government has assumed full responsibility for the decisions and has shown willingness to carry out fundamental reforms which could restore the former might of the Russian army.
Attempts of the new government to replace the old communist ideals by the use of Russian history, the revival of pre-revolutionary holidays and the establishment of new ones, the creation of new heroes and the erection of new monuments were studied by the American researcher Kathleen Smith. Her book
Mythmaking in the New Russia: Politics and Memory during the Yeltsin Era / Smith K. Mythmaking in the New Russia: Politics and Memory during the Yeltsin Era. Ithaca, 2002 /. The author demonstrates how Yeltsin and the democrats who initially were skeptical of a patriotic myth-making, in times of crisis made a return to the national past in search of the ideological basis for the new regime. Similar problems are explored by the authors of the collected articles
Policy in History and Culture of Memory in the new Russia / Geschichtspolitik und Erinnerungskultur im neuen Russland. Göttingen, 2009 /. "Perestroika" ("Restructuring") and "Glasnost"("Publicity") given the opportunity to Russian historians, political scientists and journalists to freely investigate the history of Russia. The former state monopoly in the interpretation of Russian and Soviet history has disappeared, and collective memory, which had recently faced pressure upon official historiography, has ceased to be uniform. One of the central places in the book is the problem of interpretation of the Second World War in post-Soviet historiography, the role of the Society "Memorial" in perpetuating the memory of Victims of Political Repression, the revival of the Cossacks, and many others.
