Across the Revolutionary Divide

Across the Revolutionary Divide: Russia, 1861-1945 presents an ambitious interpretive account of Russian history from the abolition of serfdom by Alexander II to the end of World War II. By taking into account seven fundamental themes -- Politics, Society, Nations, Modernization, Beliefs, World, and Culture - the author recounts the turbulent series of events, influences, reforms, and revolutions that transformed the vast country from a backward society into one of the world's two great "super-powers." At the same time we see how the great changes brought about by the Revolution of 1917 left the USSR with many of the same problems of the Tsarist era, including the challenges of poverty, underdevelopment, and a multi-ethnic and multi-lingual population. The book also reveals how the radical policies adopted after the Bolshevik takeover both changed the face of Russia while perpetuating an economic and political rigidity whose effects continue into the twenty-first century.