S. A. Smith

This Very Short Introduction provides an analytical narrative of the main events and developments in Soviet Russia between 1917 and 1936. It examines the impact of the revolution on society as a whole—on different classes, ethnic groups, the army, men and women, youth. Its central concern is to understand how one structure of domination was replaced by another. The book registers the primacy of politics, but situates political developments firmly in the context of massive economic, social, and cultural change. Since the fall of Communism there has been much reflection on the significance of the Russian Revolution. The book rejects the currently influential, liberal interpretation of the revolution in favour of one that sees it as rooted in the contradictions of a backward society which sought modernization and enlightenment and ended in political tyranny. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

The Russian Revolution: A Very Short Introduction

Amy, a lonely thirty-something year old, decides that enough is enough. Sick and tired of being on her own, with no money, no friends and more importantly no love life, she reflects back on her years spent at sea. Taking drastic action, she decides to return to the lifestyle that she had loved and missed so much. After two years away, going back to work on the cruise ships would be the answer to all of her problems, saving the money that she so desperately needed to buy her own home. Independent and strong, she was a professional woman who could accomplish anything that she put her mind to. She would make her fortune, whilst enjoying the sun and stunning destinations, making friends, and maybe even a lover on the way. She was going to get a life! Or so she thought. Amy soon realised that ship life wasn't exactly how she'd remembered it. Had she just made one of the biggest mistakes...?

That's Ship Life!

David A. Stephenson

Stephen M. Born

The Hydrogeologic Regime of Glacial-terrain Lakes, with Management and Planning Applications

A unique comparative account of the roots of Communist revolution in Russia and China. Steve Smith examines the changing social identities of peasants who settled in St Petersburg from the 1880s to 1917 and in Shanghai from the 1900s to the 1940s. Russia and China, though very different societies, were both dynastic empires with backward agrarian economies that suddenly experienced the impact of capitalist modernity. This book argues that far more happened to these migrants than simply being transformed from peasants into workers. It explores the migrants' identification with their native homes; how they acquired new understandings of themselves as individuals and new gender and national identities. It asks how these identity transformations fed into the wider political, social and cultural processes that culminated in the revolutionary crises in Russia and China, and how the Communist regimes that emerged viewed these transformations in the working classes they claimed to represent.

A Comparative History

Revolution and the People in Russia and China

DIVExploration of the development of national and class identities among Shanghai workers, claiming that nationalism had a greater hold on working-class identity between 1895 and 1927 than class consciousness./div

Nationalism and Labor in Shanghai, 1895–1927

Like Cattle and Horses

The impact of Communism on the twentieth century was massive, equal to that of the two world wars. Until the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, historians knew relatively little about the secretive world of communist states and parties. Since then, the opening of state, party, and diplomatic archives of the former Eastern Bloc has released a flood of new documentation. The thirty-five essays in this Handbook, written by an international team of scholars, draw on this new material to offer a global history of communism in the twentieth century. In contrast to many histories that concentrate on the Soviet Union, The Oxford Handbook of the History of Communism is genuinely global in its coverage, paying particular attention to the Chinese Revolution. It is 'global', too, in the sense that the essays seek to integrate history 'from above' and 'from below', to trace the complex mediations between state and society, and to explore the social and cultural as well as the political and economic realities that shaped the lives of citizens fated to live under communist rule. The essays reflect on the similarities and differences between communist states in order to situate them in their socio-political and cultural contexts and to capture their changing nature over time. Where appropriate, they also reflect on how the fortunes of international communism were shaped by the wider economic, political, and cultural forces of the capitalist world. The Handbook provides an informative introduction for those new to the field and a comprehensive overview of the current state of scholarship for those seeking to deepen their understanding.

The Oxford Handbook of the History of Communism

Stephen Anthony Smith

Deals with problem of workers' control in Russia.

Revolution in the Factories, 1917-1918

Red Petrograd

Draws on documentation released since the fall of the Soviet Union to offer a global history of communism in the twentieth century.

S. A. Smith

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