This well-established textbook provides a survey of the Soviet Union from its birth to its death. Including chapters on the New Economic Policy and World War II, the book focuses on the political, social, economic and religious developments to give a complete account of the Soviet years.

Martin McCauley is former Senior Lecturer in Politics at the School of Slavonicand East European Studies, University College, University of London. His previous publications include Stalin and Stalinism (2003), Bandits, Gangsters and the Mafia: Russia, the Baltic States and the CIS Since 1991 (2001) and Gorbachev (2000).

Glossary. Introduction. 1. Revolution. 2. The New Economic Policy. 3. The Thirties. 4. The Great Fatherland War. 5. The Last Years of Stalin. 6. The Khrushchev Era. 7. The Brezhnev Era. Selected Bibliography. Index.