Stalinism: New Directions (Rewriting Histories) by Sheila Fitzpatrick

Stalinism: New Directions (Rewriting Histories) Reviews

• 
  Justin Goodman

  If you ever wonder how history can be more politics than science, Soviet History is a good start.
  
  I became interested in Stalinist Russian after listening to Rev Left Radio's episode on Stalin (
  https://revolutionaryleftradio.libsyn...). It helped set the framework for reading this book since it was such a heavily Marxist-Leninist perspective that I knew what unabashed respect for the early USSR looked like - and as an American, I'm more than aware of what an unabashed hatred for the early USSR looks like.
  
  This collection is nestled firmly, and at times uncomfortably, in the middle of this spectrum. The best essays - Paul M Hagenloh's and James R Harris' - are especially reflecting as they bring what we normally consider as an abstract evil into a familiar light. The Terror, they essentially agree, was an unplanned and chaotic campaign that stemmed from a simultaneous lack of oversight and surplus of judiciary power. Stop me if you've heard this one before: it was, in Hagenloh's words, a "radicalization of policing practices."
  
  That said, all the essays are worth reading if you're interested in the cultural/political complexes the early USSR was working in and trying to develop from, and if you want to consider how Tsarist Russia -> USSR -> Russia is a continuum of gestating notions.
• 
  Patrick

  This is an excellent introduction to the history of Stalinism for upper level undergraduate students and for graduate students just getting acquainted with the field. I am the latter. It is a collection of essays by (then) young cultural historians of the Stalinist period. Fitzpatrick's introduction is almost like a battle cry for her generation of Soviet historians influenced by Derrida, Foucault, Habermas, Weber, de Certeau, and Bourdieu, just to name a few. Regardless of your personal interests, there is bound to be at least a few essays in here that are of interest to you. I was struck by several in particular. The book is actually kind of dated at this point, but it doesn't really feel like it. Many of these authors went on to write some good monographs, as well, but this is a good starting point.
• 
  Derek Lewis

  A great collection of essays, but for some reason, I had a harer time with this text. I generally enjoy reading and learning more about soviet history, but this was a difficult read. Unfortunately, it has been 8 or 9 years and I don't remember why...