Since Gorbachev took office in 1985, every aspect of the Soviet past has been under scrutiny. Tens of millions of Soviet citizens are eagerly absorbing and debating the vast outpouring of novels, books and articles, and films and TV programmes, about their past. Much new information has appeared, often sensational, about how the Stalin regime worked and what it meant for top politicians, generals, intellectuals and ordinary citizens. Stalinists, Russian nationalists, democratic socialists and others are locked in bitter debate. Was the victory of Stalinism inevitable? Was there an alternative road to socialism? Even Lenin and his policies are now questioned. The Politburo itself is deeply divided about how far the debate should go and what conclusions should be drawn from it. The reconsideration about the past is part of the discussion about the way forward for Soviet society: how big should be the role of the market? How much freedom and democracy?

Preface - The Background: Thaw and Frost; History Before Perestroika, 1956-85 - PART 1 THE MENTAL REVOLUTION - Russia before the Bolshevik Revolution - The New Economic Policy and the Alternatives to Stalinism - The Repression of the Peasantry - Stalin and His Entourage - Stalinism and Soviet Society - The Stalinist System - The Second World War - Lenin, the Civil War and its Aftermath (1917-22) - PART 2 THE POLITICS OF SOVIET HISTORY - The Politburo and Soviet History: Spring 1985-Spring 1988 - The Politburo and Soviet History: The XIX Party Conference and After - PART 3 PROFESSIONAL HISTORY - The Professional Historians - The Crisis in History Teaching - PART 4 THE DEBATE IN CONTEXT - Truth and Bias in the New History - Conclusions: History and the Reconstruction of Soviet Society - Appendix: Some major events in Russian and Soviet History - Index