Documents from Modern Russia features uniquely contemporary readings that help shape students’ understanding of Russia’s history in the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries. While political and foreign history are still covered, the readings focus on large social and economic shifts, as well as the ways culture shapes and moderates Russians’ experiences of their world.
Throughout, readings are complemented by thoughtful annotations that provide context and support greater student understanding. Each chapter represents a multifaceted moment in time when cultural, political, economic, and military events were all taking place simultaneously and impacted each other. Beginning in 1855 and progressing chronologically, the chapters cover: the great reforms, imperial expansion, and tsarism under attack; autocracy and the Russian empire; the disintegration of the imperial regime; the Russian revolution and the making of Soviet Russia; Stalin’s rise to power; Soviet foreign policy; the USSR in the Great Patriotic War, the Cold War, and reconstruction; the Brezhnev doctrine; the Soviet collapse; and post-Soviet Russia.
Featuring timely and accessible content, Documents from Modern Russia is an ideal resource for courses with focus in Russian history, politics, culture, economics, and foreign policy.
Margaret Peacock is an associate professor and the director of undergraduate studies in the Department of History at the University of Alabama. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Peacock’s research interests include propaganda and media studies, Russian and Soviet history, Cold War history, Middle Eastern history, the history of childhood, and history of Soviet science.
Richard B. Spence is a full professor of history at the University of Idaho. He holds a Ph.D. in history, with specialization in modern Europe and Middle Eastern history, from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Dr. Spence’s research focuses on Russian intelligence and military history.
