The Soviet Experiment: Russia, the USSR, and the Successor States

All good--I received the book quickly, unmarked, and brand new.

Very impartial for a subject that can't help but attract ideologues of both the right and the left. As thorough as can be; no stone is left unturned. The best history of the USSR I have read.

Detailed, fairly easy to read, insightful. Really enjoyed reading this for one of my college courses

It offers a rather impartial view of the history of the Soviet state. It is a very nice text. The only complaint I have about the text is the lack of maps to help readers get a better visual for the Soviet Union at different times.

When I bought the book, I was afraid of how crappy the book would have been when I bought it for so much cheaper than most sites. But it turned out to be better than expected.Thank You

This book is very well written, and thorough. It's a little heavy at times, but if you are looking for a book detailing the rise of the communist party in Russia, this is the book to get!

Excellent work. Very thorough explanation of all aspects of the way the Soviet Union began and evolved over time. I heartily recommend this work.

Spoiler: Experiment failed.

(This review is of the revised and updated 2010 edition, not the 1998 edition)This is a good, solid if middle-of-the-road one volume survey of Soviet history. It also purports to deal with the Soviet successor states althought in actual fact the only post-Soviet state it deals with in any detail is Russia. The other 15 republics are overlooked.It offers a narrative summary of key social, political, economic and cultural developments of the Soviet experiment itself, plus a useful introductory chapter on the country's pre-1917 antecedents. It is well organised and well written and covers all the essentials. What limits its value as a text book for me is its failure to offer comprehensive summaries of various schools of historical thought, and how our understanding of the Soviet Union has shifted with time (especially after the opening of the archives in the early 90s). For example, was Stain's crash industrialisation of the Soviet Union in the 30s necessary? Or was there another way? He mentions briefly that that historians think a gradualist approach might have worked but gives no names and does not expond on the issues at any length. Other key issues like the continuities and differences between Leninism and Stalinism are hardly discussed. The suggestions for further reading are very useful but again some attempt to offer summary of the key arguments of the literature of the Soviet Union would have been useful. Some statistical tables and additional maps would also have come in handy, as well.Nonetheles, for teachers and students of Soviet history, this is still a very useful lodestar text with which to navigate Soviet history. For readers with a general interest, or already have a background knowledge of Soviet history, the price of the book is too high. Read a library copy or get it second hand, as I did.

Ideal for undergraduates like myself. Goes into excellent detail on historiography of each stage in the 'Soviet Experiment', providing details for further reading at the end of each chapter. Very easy to read, already proving useful. Would highly recommend.