Joshua First is the Croft Associate Professor of History and International Studies at the Croft Institute for International Studies at the University of Mississippi.

• Note on transliterationAcknowledgementsKinoSputniks general editors’ prefaceList of illustrationsProduction creditsPlot summaryChapter 1: IntroductionChapter 2: Historical context and production historyChapter 3: Film analysisChapter 4: ReceptionChapter 5: Conclusion: Fifty years later

'These and future KinoSputniks will be cherished by Russian-film fans and used in courses on Russian cinema and culture. All three contribute not only to the project of writing Russian film history, but also to explorations of Russian/Soviet culture and history. In fact, whether this was intended or not, all three ultimately address the question of nationality and nation in Russian and Soviet culture: the controversial treatment of the Jews in The Commissar, the celebration of the Ukrainians in Shadows, and the place of Russia vis-à-vis the west in Russian Ark.'

Joshua First is the Croft Associate Professor of History and International Studies at the Croft Institute for International Studies at the University of Mississippi.

• Note on transliterationAcknowledgementsKinoSputniks general editors’ prefaceList of illustrationsProduction creditsPlot summaryChapter 1: IntroductionChapter 2: Historical context and production historyChapter 3: Film analysisChapter 4: ReceptionChapter 5: Conclusion: Fifty years later

'These and future KinoSputniks will be cherished by Russian-film fans and used in courses on Russian cinema and culture. All three contribute not only to the project of writing Russian film history, but also to explorations of Russian/Soviet culture and history. In fact, whether this was intended or not, all three ultimately address the question of nationality and nation in Russian and Soviet culture: the controversial treatment of the Jews in The Commissar, the celebration of the Ukrainians in Shadows, and the place of Russia vis-à-vis the west in Russian Ark.'

Joshua First is the Croft Associate Professor of History and International Studies at the Croft Institute for International Studies at the University of Mississippi.

• Note on transliterationAcknowledgementsKinoSputniks general editors’ prefaceList of illustrationsProduction creditsPlot summaryChapter 1: IntroductionChapter 2: Historical context and production historyChapter 3: Film analysisChapter 4: ReceptionChapter 5: Conclusion: Fifty years later

'These and future KinoSputniks will be cherished by Russian-film fans and used in courses on Russian cinema and culture. All three contribute not only to the project of writing Russian film history, but also to explorations of Russian/Soviet culture and history. In fact, whether this was intended or not, all three ultimately address the question of nationality and nation in Russian and Soviet culture: the controversial treatment of the Jews in The Commissar, the celebration of the Ukrainians in Shadows, and the place of Russia vis-à-vis the west in Russian Ark.'