{"product_id":"9781350117891","title":"The Fate of the Bolshevik Revolution : Illiberal Liberation, 1917-41","description":"\u003cstrong\u003eThe Fate of the Bolshevik Revolution\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eHow did a regime that promised utopian-style freedom end up delivering terror and tyranny? For some, the Bolsheviks were totalitarian and the descent was inevitable; for others, Stalin was responsible; for others still, this period in Russian history was a microcosm of the Cold War. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Fate of the Bolshevik Revolution\u003c\/i\u003e reasons that these arguments are too simplistic. Rather, the journey from Bolshevik liberation to totalitarianism was riddled with unsuccessful experiments, compromises, confusion, panic, self-interest and over-optimism. As this book reveals, the emergence (and persistence) of the Bolshevik dictatorship was, in fact, the complicated product of a failed democratic transition.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDrawing on long-ignored archival sources and original research, this fascinating volume brings together an international team of leading scholars to reconsider one of the most important and controversial questions of 20th-century history: how to explain the rise of the repressive Stalinist dictatorship.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReview(s):\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"[An] excellent volume that cohesively balances a wide range of topics and persuasively reassesses the Soviet state’s evolution … The authors make a persuasive case against inevitable authoritarianism alongside an unflinching assessment of the violent and pseudo-participatory improvisations that filled the Soviet democratic void. Recommended for students of Europe and comparative politics. Summing Up: Recommended. General readers through faculty.\" - \u003ci\u003eCHOICE\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“This superb volume provides unprecedented insight into the relationship between democracy and dictatorship in Bolshevik thought and political practice. It is essential reading for anyone interested in the Revolution and the origins and nature of Stalinism.” —\u003ci\u003eJames Ryan, Senior Lecturer in Modern European History, Cardiff University, UK\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A close examination of the Bolshevik regime in theory and practice, this nuanced and enlightening volume identifies how the emancipatory promise of 1917 was first compromised and then transformed into one of the most brutal dictatorships of the 20th century.” —\u003ci\u003eDavid Brandenberger, Professor of History, University of Richmond, USA\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eISBN:  9781350117891\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e ","brand":"Bloomsbury Academic","offers":[{"title":"Paperback \/ softback","offer_id":40706797699278,"sku":"9781350117891","price":34.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0600\/7029\/7806\/products\/getimage_d563e9db-7fc7-4e8f-a15a-1e3e2658fd26.jpg?v=1640578138","url":"https:\/\/pickwickbookshop.com\/products\/9781350117891","provider":"Pickwick Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}