To this enthralling journey across an archipelago of twentieth-century Russian people and situations, Smith brings deep historical knowledge, analytical prowess and formidable emotional intelligence. At the end of it you have not just learned something, you have been somewhere. Essential reading for anyone with an interest in contemporary Russia and its people
Christopher Clark
About Mark B. Smith
Mark B. Smith teaches in the Faculty of History at the University of Cambridge. He is the author of Property of Communists: The Urban Housing Program from Stalin to Khrushchev and The Russia Anxiety: And How History Can Resolve It