The Rise and Fall of Soviet Communism: A History of 20th-Century Russia
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The Rise and Fall of Soviet Communism: A History of 20th-Century Russia
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Narrated by:
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Gary Hamburg
About this listen
From the Oval Office to the streets of Moscow, world leaders and ordinary citizens alike share interest and concerns about Russia. Can democracy survive there? What does the future hold for the once expansive and still powerful Russian nation? Is Soviet Communism truly dead?
These are the kinds of questions diplomats struggle with every day. And now, through this series of 16 incisive lectures by an acclaimed scholar of Russian history, you can begin investigating them for yourself as you take a probing historical journey through the recent history and near future of a key world power. Whether your chief interest is Russian or world history, political theory, or international relations, you'll take away fresh knowledge and insight as Professor Hamburg examines the improbable origins of Communist rule in Russia, the ascent of the Red Star to its zenith, and its decline and apparent end in the wake of 1989's events.
Using new material from previously sealed Soviet archives and covering recent controversial findings by both Russian and Western scholars, he begins with the failures of the czarist regime and the horrors of the First World War, then takes you through the bloody era of Josef Stalin's purges and beyond to Mikhail Gorbachev's perestroika to offer you a thoroughgoing analysis of the Soviet experiment.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.
©1996 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)1996 The Great CoursesWhat listeners say about The Rise and Fall of Soviet Communism: A History of 20th-Century Russia
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Elena Sukhaya
- 19-02-2021
Brilliant! Well done, Gary Hamburg!
Enjoyed it, thanks! A note to future listeners: this is a series of lectures, not an ‘audiobook’ in the strict sense
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Kenneth K T Tse
- 22-03-2016
The sad Soviet story of the recent past well written and related
A wonderful story extremely well told! I enjoyed all the chapters especially the professor's personal stories!
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
- jasper
- 10-09-2019
I enjoyed the authors cynicism and sence of humour
I read it after reading the History of Russia great course and found it was a very interesting alternate perspective. Author seemed likeable
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Anonymous User
- 18-02-2023
Informative and balanced
Although the presentation can be a little dull its definitely one of the best histories on the ussr out there
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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- Gary
- 28-03-2023
Very informative
It’s easy to gloss over or dismiss Russia based on what western media presents. This very good series of lectures provides the back story of politics in Eastern Europe and gives deeper understanding of why tensions are what they are today.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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- Brett Sylvester
- 26-04-2023
Good but limited
A solid, concise history of the Russian revolution and the rule of lenin and stalin. He absolutely flies through everything after that though, not so much as even mentioning the Cuban missile crisis or any other prominent elements of the cold war. To the extent that one gets any sense of what the post-stalin ussr was like, it appears as though it was a profoundly uneventful half century or so until Gorbachev brought it all down.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Don Carbarns
- 09-06-2018
excellent book very informative
learnt heaps about Russian history. would recommend for anyone who wants to know what communism is about
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Anonymous User
- 06-08-2020
Great classes. Very clear and entertaining!
Interesting, very clear and at some points funny. I came into this just wanting to join the conversation about Communism and finished it wanting to learn more about Russian History in general.
Also will be looking for more stuff by Gary Hamburg.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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- joshua
- 10-05-2016
The Rise and Fall of Russia in The Soviet Era
This was a passable history, but just like most American Great Courses accounts of the history of Marxism and socialism there is an implicit pro-market ideology permeating through the narrative. Also, this was 90% about Russia, 5% about Ukraine, and 5% about just a few of the other thirteen constitutive states that made up the USSR: a bit disappointing for me, as I was wanting to hear about the Soviet experience in the Baltic and Caucasus more than just Russia. Given that the last lecture focuses on Yeltsin and the beginnings of Russian market capitalism, I would hazard a guess that these recordings are from the 1990s. Much has changed in the post-Soviet world since then, including historical perspective. It would be useful for The Great Courses to note the date of recording for their courses, and it would also be great to have a course that isn't ~20 years old on rotation.
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3 people found this helpful