Description: "Uniquely contemporary readings that help shape students' understanding of Russia's history in the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries. While political and foreign history are still covered, the readings focus on large social and economic shifts, as well as the ways culture shapes and moderates Russians' experience of their world. Throughout, readings are complemented by thoughtful annotations that provide context and support greater student understanding. Each chapter repressents a multifaceted moment in time when cultural, political, economic, and military events were all taking place simultaneously and impacted each other. Beginning in 1855 and progressing chronologically, the chapters cover: the great reforms, imperial expansion, and tsarism under attack; autocracy and the Russian empire; the disintegration of the imperial regime; the Russian Revolution and the making of Soviet Russia; Stalin's rise to power; Soviet foreign policy; the USSR in the Great Patriotic War, the Cold War, and Reconstruction; the Brezhnev doctrine; the Societ collapse; and post-Soviet Russia. An ideal resource for courses with focus in Russian history, politics, culture, economics, and foreign policy."--
