The Shadow of War: Russia and the USSR, 1941 to the present
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Taking the achievements, ambiguities, and legacies of World War II as a point of departure, The Shadow of War: The Soviet Union and Russia, 1941 to the Present offers a fresh new approach to modern Soviet and Russian history. Presents one of the only histories of the Soviet Union and Russia that begins with World War II and goes beyond the Soviet collapse through to the early twenty-first century Innovative thematic arrangement and approach allows for insights that are missed in chronological histories Draws on a wide range of sources and the very latest research on post-Soviet history, a rapidly developing field Supported by further reading, bibliography, maps and illustrations.
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This ended up being a fairly frustrating read, mostly because I felt it strayed too far from its initial aim to examine the Great Patriotic War as a symbol in the Soviet Union and post-Soviet Russia: that is, the war as symbol of the “victory over fascism” that played a role in the “the re-launch of the Soviet project”, and the idea of war as central to “Soviet self-understanding”, while, in direct conflict with this socialist ideology, also supporting the resurgence of Russian patriotism and identity. There was a lot of exploration into these themes, but the scope of the book was also a lot wider than I'd been initially expected. I found myself needing to skim a lot of pages, especially in the middle and later chapters, to find the information I was after. I still got a lot from it, but am slightly disappointed how much I had to work through to get there.