Stalinism
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Alexander Shotman, an Old Bolshevik organizer and close associate of Lenin, rose from worker origins to help sustain the revolutionary underground and early Soviet state. Transitioning into administration after 1917, he remained loyal but fell victim to Stalin’s Great Purge in 1937, later rehabilitated as a symbol of Bolshevism’s tragic trajectory.
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Orlando Figes’s The Whisperers examines everyday life in Stalin’s Russia, focusing on the intimate effects of state repression on personal relationships and identities. Relying on oral histories, Figes reveals the pervasive culture of fear and silence that shaped Soviet citizens’ experiences, while critically engaging with issues of memory and trauma in historical narratives.
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Stephen F. Cohen’s Bukharin and the Bolshevik Revolution offers a nuanced portrait of Nikolai Bukharin, portraying him as a significant Bolshevik strategist rather than merely a foil to Stalin. The book examines Bukharin’s theories and policy proposals amidst Soviet internal struggles, highlighting critiques of the NEP and the importance of peasant alliances, while acknowledging its…
Letters from Tomis 