Download or read book Witnessing the Soviet Twilight written by Dorothy S. McClellan and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2014-03-12 with total page 253 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: More than 20 years have passed since the fall of the Soviet empire. This book provides an intimate look at how Americans resident in the Soviet Union in its final days described this unprecedented moment in history. North American scholars from the disciplines of philosophy, sociology, psychology, women's studies, criminal justice, labor relations, religion and education present their insights into the dramatic events that marked the collapse of the Soviet Union and the transition to the Commonwealth of Independent States. As glasnost and perestroika developed, many Russians grew critical of traditional beliefs and confused about their identity and role in society. As Marxism-Leninism slipped away, still others lamented the passing of a system rich in social protection and opportunities for education and professional advancement. In this crisis thoughtful people shared with the contributors to this book assessments of their national history, its successes and failures, its triumphs, its crimes and brutalities. Accounts range from concrete portrayals of individuals to theoretical discussions of ideology, economy, gender equality, capitalism and socialism, producing a multifaceted portrait of a changing nation.
Download or read book Witnessing the Soviet Twilight written by Dorothy S. McClellan and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2014-03-08 with total page 253 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: More than 20 years have passed since the fall of the Soviet empire. This book provides an intimate look at how Americans resident in the Soviet Union in its final days described this unprecedented moment in history. North American scholars from the disciplines of philosophy, sociology, psychology, women's studies, criminal justice, labor relations, religion and education present their insights into the dramatic events that marked the collapse of the Soviet Union and the transition to the Commonwealth of Independent States. As glasnost and perestroika developed, many Russians grew critical of traditional beliefs and confused about their identity and role in society. As Marxism-Leninism slipped away, still others lamented the passing of a system rich in social protection and opportunities for education and professional advancement. In this crisis thoughtful people shared with the contributors to this book assessments of their national history, its successes and failures, its triumphs, its crimes and brutalities. Accounts range from concrete portrayals of individuals to theoretical discussions of ideology, economy, gender equality, capitalism and socialism, producing a multifaceted portrait of a changing nation.
Download or read book Twilight of the Soviet Union written by Kate Clark and published by . This book was released on 2023 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Witness to History 1929 1969 written by Charles E. Bohlen and published by Plunkett Lake Press. This book was released on 2021-08-26 with total page 396 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “At the end of the 1920’s the Foreign Service of the United States... introduced a program of regional specialization. It was a fortunate innovation, for, among other things, it provided the Service with a group of well‐trained Russian‐language specialists just at the time when the United States was beginning its new and troubled association with the Soviet Union. One of the first of these was Charles E. Bohlen, and for the next 40 years he was to be involved in every major development in Soviet American relations, serving under William C. Bullitt in the Moscow embassy in 1934, acting as interpreter and adviser at the wartime conferences at Teheran, Yalta and Potsdam, succeeding George F. Kennan as Ambassador to Moscow in 1953, and, in later years, advising Presidents about Russian attitudes at the time of the Cuban missile crisis and the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. Diplomatic memoirs are generally thin stuff and often mere exercises in self‐inflation. This cannot be said of this absorbing account. Anyone who reads it will understand what George Kennan meant when he described his friend as ‘a man interested... both passionately and dispassionately in everything that concerned the Russian scene.’ It is clear that, from that bright snowy day when he jumped down on the station platform at Negoreloye in March, 1934, until the very end of his career, his hunger to learn all he could about Russia and its rulers was unabated; but it is also apparent that he always strove to remain objective about what he learned and to remember that his role was not to pass judgment on the behavior of the Soviet Government but to understand it and to use that understanding for the good of his country. His memoirs are the record of how he accomplished this... the account of the various phases of the author’s career is rich in circumstantial detail and in anecdote. Particularly effective are Mr. Bohlen’s descriptions of the men he met during his career. These include a shrewd assessment of de Gaulle, whom Bohlen saw frequently during his term as Ambassador to France from 1962 until 1968, and a series of impressions of the Secretaries of State under whom he served. Among these he admired Marshall most and Dulles, who unceremoniously exiled him to Manila in 1957, least.” — Gordon A. Craig, The New York Times “A fascinating account of a most extraordinary career.” — W. Averell Harriman “No single person was present at more of the high-level diplomatic encounters of the wartime and immediate post-war periods than Charles Bohlen. And none was better equipped to judge them. His memoirs have, therefore, unique historical value and should go far to answer the questions of those who are now challenging the soundness of American decisions in that time.” — George F. Kennan “This book is original, reflective, well written, full of new aperçus for the journalist and fresh fuel for the historian... an admirable book.” — The Economist “Few diplomats covered as much ground, fewer have written so compelling a book... [a] solid, worthy book.” — Times Literary Supplement “Absorbing throughout... There is much that is amusing, for Bohlen has a bump of irreverence, and much that is new... A definite contribution to history.” — Joseph P. Lash “The book... is of major historical importance... for its perception and the light which it sheds on the statesmen and the major crises of our time.” — Edward Weeks, The Atlantic Monthly “[Bohlen was] one of the leading diplomats of his time but also an outstanding connoisseur of Russian history and culture... an important book.” — Adam B. Ulam, Slavic Review “[An] extraordinary book... a dynamic narrative... for anyone... interested in the ups and downs of American-Soviet policies, this should prove a most useful book.” — Stephen D. Kertesz, The Review of Politics “[An] important book... I found these memoirs both fascinating and enlightening.” — F. H. Soward, International Journal
Download or read book New Russian Nationalism written by Pal Kolsto and published by Edinburgh University Press. This book was released on 2016-03-24 with total page 445 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Traces Russia's transforming nationalism, from imperialism, through ethnocentrism and migration phobia, to territorial expansion. This title was made Open Access by libraries from around the world through Knowledge Unlatched.
Download or read book Memory Conflict and New Media written by Ellen Rutten and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-04-12 with total page 277 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the online memory wars in post-Soviet states – where political conflicts take the shape of heated debates about the recent past, and especially World War II and Soviet socialism. To this day, former socialist states face the challenge of constructing national identities, producing national memories, and relating to the Soviet legacy. Their pasts are principally intertwined: changing readings of history in one country generate fierce reactions in others. In this transnational memory war, digital media form a pivotal discursive space – one that provides speakers with radically new commemorative tools. Uniting contributions by leading scholars in the field, Memory, Conflict and New Media is the first book-length publication to analyse how new media serve as a site of political and national identity building in post-socialist states. The book also examines how the construction of online identity is irreversibly affected by thinking about the past in this geopolitical domain. By highlighting post-socialist memory’s digital mediations and digital memory’s transcultural scope, the volume succeeds in a twofold aim: to deepen and refine both (post-socialist) memory theory and digital-memory studies. This book will be of much interest to students of media studies, post-Soviet studies, Eastern European Politics, memory studies and International Relations in general.
Download or read book Russia in the Context of Global Transformations written by Aleksandr Buzgalin and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2023-03-27 with total page 390 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Russia in the Context of Global Transformations (Capitalism and Communism, Culture and Revolution), the authors focus on the dramatic changes in Russia’s socio-economic system over the past hundred years. The contradictions of Russia’s triumphs and tragedies are studied in connection with the shifts in the world economic system. Basing themselves on the views of the Post-Soviet School of Critical Marxism, the authors show the causes and consequences of the main shifts in Russia’s development during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Topics addressed include the October Revolution, the contradictions of post-revolutionary development, the disintegration of the USSR, the collapse and stagnation during the post-USSR period and the prospects for overcoming contemporary problems.
Download or read book Witness written by Whittaker Chambers and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2014-12-09 with total page 446 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: #1 New York Times bestseller for 13 consecutive weeks! "As long as humanity speaks of virtue and dreams of freedom, the life and writings of Whittaker Chambers will ennoble and inspire." - PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN "One of the dozen or so indispensable books of the century..." - GEORGE F. WILL "Witness changed my worldview, my philosophical perceptions, and, without exaggeration, my life." - ROBERT D. NOVAK, from his Foreward "Chambers has written one of the really significant American autobiographies. When some future Plutarch writes his American Live, he will find in Chambers penetrating and terrible insights into America in the early twentieth century." - ARTHUR SCHLESINGER JR. "Chambers had a gift for language....to call Chambers an activist or Witness a political event is to say Dostoevsky was a criminologist or Crime and Punishment a morality tract." - WASHINGTON POST "Chambers was not just the witness against Alger Hiss, but was also one of th articulators of the modern conservative philosophy, a philosophy that has something to do with restoring the spiritual values of politics." - SAM TANENHAUS, author of Whittaker Chambers "One of the few indispensable autobiographies ever written by an American - and one of the best written, too." - HILTON KRAMER, The New Criterion First published in 1952, Witness is the true story of Soviet spies in America and the trial that captivated a nation. Part literary effort, part philosophical treatise, this intriguing autobiography recounts the famous Alger Hiss case and reveals much more. Chambers' worldview and his belief that "man without mysticism is a monster" went on to help make political conservatism a national force. Regnery History's Cold War Classics edition is the most comprehensive version of Witness ever published, featuring forewords collected from all previous editions, including discussions from luminaries William F. Buckley Jr., Robert D. Novak, Milton Hindus, and Alfred S. Regnery.
Download or read book The Star and the Scepter written by Emmanuel Navon and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 2020-11 with total page 530 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first all-encompassing book on Israel’s foreign policy and the diplomatic history of the Jewish people, The Star and the Scepter retraces and explains the interactions of Jews with other nations from the ancient kingdoms of Israel to modernity. Starting with the Hebrew Bible, Emmanuel Navon argues that one cannot grasp Israel’s interactions with the world without understanding how Judaism’s founding document has shaped the Jewish psyche. He sheds light on the people of Israel’s foreign policy through the ages: the ancient kingdoms of Israel, Jewish diasporas in Europe from the Middle Ages to the emancipation, the emerging nineteenth-century Zionist movement, and Zionist diplomacy following World War I and surrounding World War II. Navon elucidates Israel’s foreign policy from the birth of the state in 1948 to our days: the dilemmas and choices at the beginning of the Cold War; Israel’s attempts to establish periphery alliances; the Arab-Israeli conflict; Israel’s relations with Europe, the United States, Russia, Asia, Africa, Latin America, the United Nations, and the Jewish diasporas; and how twenty-first-century energy geopolitics is transforming Israel’s foreign relations today. Navon’s analysis is rooted in two central ideas, represented by the Star of David (faith) and the scepter (political power). First, he contends that the interactions of Jews with the world have always been best served by combining faith with pragmatism. Second, Navon shows how the state of Israel owes its diplomatic achievements to national assertiveness and hard power—not only military strength but economic prowess and technological innovation. Demonstrating that diplomacy is a balancing act between ideals and realpolitik, The Star and the Scepter draws aspirational and pragmatic lessons from Israel’s exceptional diplomatic history.
Download or read book Special Tasks written by Pavel Sudoplatov and published by Sphere. This book was released on 1994 with total page 509 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The autobiography of Stalin's Director of Special Tasks - namely, kidnapping and assassination; sabotage and guerrilla warfare during World War II; the establishment of illegal networks; and atomic espionage. Pavel Sudoplatov reveals how he organized Trotsky's assassination on Stalin's orders.
Download or read book Wolves and Sheep written by Arik Hart and published by . This book was released on 2019-09-22 with total page 77 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: I was born in Yerevan, Armenia (former Soviet Union). I am a biophysicist by profession. Most Americans are not aware of the history of the Soviet Union, but I can say that as a baby boomer and a beloved son, I enjoyed a happy childhood. I remember my boy- pioneer and komsomol- teenager years as an endless, beautiful, but irreversible dream. The adulthood was far from perfect, but full of life, intelligence, life celebrating events and anecdotes. All of that ended in 1985, when Gorbachev came to power in the USSR, and the destruction of that country began. 1991-1993 were the worst years of my life; with no electricity, no gas, no transportation, and no food. Practically everybody was starving. Deaths from starvation and unbearable cold were all around. I remember that in the spring of 1992, a huge housing complex with elderly population near our home appeared mostly empty- people died in that harsh winter. In 1992, a massive exodus of Armenians from the homeland began. One time my father said that these years were even worse than during World War II. In 1999 I was lucky to receive an invitation to come work in the United States as a scientist, arranged by my former graduate student. With that, I became another link in the chain of the Armenian sufferings, as an immigrant -a process lasting 400 years for Armenians. I retired as an adjunct research professor from George Washington University. I have ended my scientific life by discovering the mechanism of blood return to the heart; an important problem of blood circulation that remained unsolved for centuries, of which I am very proud. I have seen the Soviet Union and its downfall, the post-Soviet Armenian state upheavals, and the United States, up close. I witnessed how the central communist regime was replaced by criminal governments in newly independent states. In the past ten years I have been active on Facebook, keeping in touch with Armenian and global politics. I have collected many of my short thoughts expressed on Facebook, which may seem to contain anger over my national history, the present state of criminal politics in Armenia, as well as my vision of current things locally and globally. These thoughts are different in subjects and themes, and are not ordered by any means. I present them in the order in which they evolved, with mostly colored cartoons on each page.
Download or read book Witness to History written by Victoria Schofield and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2012-01-01 with total page 359 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Historian Sir John Wheeler-Bennett (1902–1975) was one of the twentieth century's most extraordinary political observers. Through an ability to make important connections, he became an authority on Germany in the interwar years and was acquainted with all the German hierarchy, including Hitler and Hindenburg. He was one of the last people to interview Trotsky, writing an important analysis of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty between Germany and the Soviet Union in 1917. As King George VI’s official biographer, he met and interviewed the major leaders of the postwar period, including Churchill, Coolidge, Truman, and members of the British Royal Family. A teacher at the universities of New York, Virginia, and Arizona, he also briefly supervised young Jack Kennedy’s master’s thesis at Harvard. This first biography of Wheeler-Bennett will fascinate anyone interested in the great political figures of world history during the twentieth century.
Download or read book The Soviet Crucible written by Samuel Hendel and published by Princeton, N.J. : Van Nostrand. This book was released on 1967 with total page 488 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Bloody Saturday in the Soviet Union written by Samuel H. Baron and published by Stanford University Press. This book was released on 2001 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the first complete story, long hidden by the Soviet Union, of the attack by government forces on striking workers in 1962, resulting in 21 dead and hundreds of others wounded or imprisoned. Only with the advent of glasnost in the 1980s did the tight lid of secrecy placed on the entire episode by the Soviets begin slowly to lift.
Download or read book Soviet Russia Pictorial written by and published by . This book was released on 1920 with total page 668 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Iron Curtain written by Anne Applebaum and published by Anchor. This book was released on 2012-10-30 with total page 803 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the long-awaited follow-up to her Pulitzer Prize-winning Gulag, acclaimed journalist Anne Applebaum delivers a groundbreaking history of how Communism took over Eastern Europe after World War II and transformed in frightening fashion the individuals who came under its sway. At the end of World War II, the Soviet Union to its surprise and delight found itself in control of a huge swath of territory in Eastern Europe. Stalin and his secret police set out to convert a dozen radically different countries to Communism, a completely new political and moral system. In Iron Curtain, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Anne Applebaum describes how the Communist regimes of Eastern Europe were created and what daily life was like once they were complete. She draws on newly opened East European archives, interviews, and personal accounts translated for the first time to portray in devastating detail the dilemmas faced by millions of individuals trying to adjust to a way of life that challenged their every belief and took away everything they had accumulated. Today the Soviet Bloc is a lost civilization, one whose cruelty, paranoia, bizarre morality, and strange aesthetics Applebaum captures in the electrifying pages of Iron Curtain.
Download or read book A Crowding Hemisphere written by American Academy of Political and Social Science and published by . This book was released on 1958 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
