What Was Bolshevism?

Lars T. Lih (Ph.D. 1984, Princeton University) has published extensively on Russian and Soviet history and politics. What Was Bolshevism? sums up a scholarly lifetime, combining hard-to-access articles spanning three decades along with new essays written for this volume.

• AcknowledgementsOriginal PublicationIntroduction: What Was Bolshevism?Part 1 Overview1 Ordinary Miracles: Lenin’s Call for Revolutionary Ambition2 The Soviet Union and the Path to CommunismPart 2 Deferred Dreams: Against the Myth of ‘War Communism’ (1918–1921)3 Tsiurupa’s White Beard4 The Mystery of the ABC5 Vlast from the Past: Stories Told by BolsheviksPart 3 Time of Troubles: Policies (1914–1921)6 Grain Monopoly and Agricultural Transformation: Ideals and Necessities7 Bolshevik Razverstka and War Communism8 Bolsheviks at Work: The Sowing Committees of 1920Part 4 Time of Troubles: Outlook (1914–1921)9 Bolshevism’s ‘Services to the State’: Three Voices10 ‘Our Position Is in the Highest Degree Tragic’: Trotsky and Bolshevik ‘Euphoria’ in 192011 Zinoviev: Populist LeninistPart 5 NEP (1921–1930)12 Political Testament: Lenin, Bukharin and the Meaning of NEP13 Bukharin on Bolshevik ‘Illusions’: ‘War Communism’ vs. NEPPart 6 Stalin Era (1925–1953)14 Stalin at Work: Introduction to Stalin’s Letters to Molotov15 Bukharin’s Bolshevik Epic: The Prison Writings16 Show Trials in the Stalin Era: On Stage and In Court17 Vertigo: Masks and Lies in Stalin’s Russia18 Who Is Stalin? What Is He?Part 7 Perestroika (1984–1991)19 Perestroika Looks BackBibliographyIndex