Russian rethinking of the past has immense political significance. The author of the acclaimed Soviet History in the Gorbachev Revolution now examines the impact of the collapse of Communism and of the subsequent disillusionment with capitalism on Soviet history. The uses of history after the 1991 coup and in the 1995 and 1996 elections are considered in detail. Part two evaluates the unfinished revolution which has partly opened the archives, while part three offers reflections on the future of the Soviet past.

Inhalt

PART 1: THE POLITICS OF SOVIET HISTORY - The Onslaught on Leninism, September 1988 to July 1990 - The XXVIII Party Congress, July 1990 - The Leninist Counter-Offensive, August 1990-July 1991 - The Drive against Communism, 1991-2: the Aftermath of the August 1991 Coup - The Mental Revolution after the First Decade - PART 2: THE BATTLE FOR THE ARCHIVES - Before Perestroika - The Opening of the Archives - Persistent Problems - PART 3: THE NEW SOVIET HISTORY - Teaching about the Soviet Past - Lenin and the Civil War - Lenin, Stalin and the New Economic Policy - Stalin and his Entourage - The Secret Police and the Camps - Opposition to Stalinism - Science and Stalinism: the Example of Physics - Soviet Society in the Stalin Era - Stalin's Entourage at the End - The Future of the Soviet Past - Appendix Table: Print-runs of Newspapers and Periodicals, 1985-1996 - Appendix: Major Events in Russian and Soviet History - Glossary - Notes and References - Index