{"product_id":"exit-stalin-the-soviet-union-as-a-civilization-1953-1991-9780241400852","title":"Exit Stalin: The Soviet Union as a Civilization, 1953-1991","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAn extraordinarily atmospheric and powerful history of the world's largest state and its decline and fall  With Stalin's death, the Soviet Union remained a repressive, harsh and belligerent place. Yet it also became one that was more predictable for its citizens, and made a genuine attempt to create the egalitarian, progressive country the Russian Revolution had once promised. That this attempt would fail was not clear until the 1980s.  Mark B. Smith's original and evocative book recreates the day-to-day life of this vast state, the largest ever to exist. What was life like in a country which made such absolute claims for the future, which claimed to be on its way to creating a people's utopia and which, like the USA, owned enough atomic weapons to end human life on Earth?  Exit Stalin is filled with extraordinary stories about those who lived in the USSR and the distinctive and functioning civilization that they built. Many of them embraced its values, understood its goals and could not imagine life outside such a vastly ambitious and progressive project. The shortages, coercion and incompetence that underlay the USSR - and which by the late 1980s would doom it - have to be understood alongside the acceptance it always had from many of its citizens. And this in turn is a crucial issue for understanding Russia and the rest of the former Soviet Union in the twenty-first century.\u003ch4\u003eDetails\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cp\u003eISBN13: 9780241400852\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFormat: Hardback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNumber of Pages: 576\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eEdition: \u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublication Date: 28 Apr 2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublisher: Penguin Books Ltd\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublication City, Country: London, United Kingdom\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eDimensions (cm): 24.1(H)x16.5(L)x3.7(W)968\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWeight (gm): 968\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch4\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h4\u003eMark B. Smith teaches in the Faculty of History at the University of Cambridge. He is the author of Property of Communists and The Russia Anxiety.\u003ch4\u003eReviews\u003c\/h4\u003eAccessible and comprehensive … Smith's authentic account of Soviet life is enlivened by biographical sketches and his deep understanding of Russian culture and society * Irish Times *\u003cbr\u003eDeeply informed … A significant book for anybody who seeks to understand modern Russia * The Sunday Times *\u003cbr\u003eSmoothly readable … A fascinating chronicle of the Soviet Union … \u003ci\u003eExit Stalin\u003c\/i\u003e offers a superb history of the rise and fall of a utopian state and its dangerously deluded ideology * Observer *\u003cbr\u003eSuperb... Immensely important... This is a tragic story, and Smith tells it magnificently * The Telegraph *\u003cbr\u003eRichly detailed... Mark Smith’s impressive history gives readers a powerful sense of what it was like to live under communism in the four decades between Stalin’s death and the country’s disintegration at the end of the cold war * Financial Times *\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eExit Stalin\u003c\/i\u003e asks a timely question: what is life in a non-democratic modern society actually like? Smith builds up a picture of an entire culture, a way of life, a vivid sense of an entire disappeared world and forces the question: would you accept the price? -- Owen Hatherley * New Statesman *\u003cbr\u003eVivid ... Excellent ... An essential and accessible addition to the library of Soviet and post-Soviet studies * Kirkus Reviews *\u003cbr\u003eDespite the vast complexities and scope of \u003ci\u003eExit Stalin\u003c\/i\u003e, Smith manages to fully immerse the reader throughout ... What is clear, even within the first few pages, is that this is a landmark work on Russian history, one like no other, and a gold mine filled with emotional power and unknown stories -- Caroline Eden * Engelsberg Ideas *\u003cbr\u003eMeticulously researched ... For anyone interested in a dispassionate overview of the late Soviet period, it makes for fascinating reading' * The Tablet *\u003cbr\u003eAlthough it died less than half a century ago, the Soviet Union, even to many who experienced first hand its complexities, contradictions, cruelties, and moments of creativity, can seem as if it belongs to ancient history. Mark B. Smith brings this lost world to life through a powerful combination of exhaustive scholarship, lucid prose, and subtle insight -- Douglas Smith\u003cbr\u003eWell written, broad in scope, and yet rich in detail, treating the covered era as a living, breathing time in human history. It makes the time and place \u003ci\u003eimaginable\u003c\/i\u003e -- Tyler Cowen\u003cbr\u003eWhere Smith’s analysis shines is in his ability to move his narrative from politics to culture to history to personal stories, thereby capturing the rich texture of a society in transition. Rarely has a non-Russian writer demonstrated such a profound understanding of the cultural details and idiosyncrasies that have influenced the formation of Russian society after Stalin -- Nina L. Krushcheva\u003cbr\u003eTo this enthralling journey across an archipelago of twentieth-century Russian people and situations, Smith brings deep historical knowledge, analytical prowess and formidable emotional intelligence. At the end of it you have not just learned something, you have been somewhere. Essential reading for anyone with an interest in contemporary Russia and its people -- Christopher Clark\u003cbr\u003eThe most insightful and accurate cultural history of the Soviet Union that I have encountered, and a very good read, to boot -- Jack F. Matlock Jr.","brand":"Mark B. Smith","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48715914674393,"sku":"9780241400852","price":110.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0502\/9530\/8441\/files\/81MT3lasMLL._SL1500.jpg?v=1778977624","url":"https:\/\/www.arielbooks.com.au\/products\/exit-stalin-the-soviet-union-as-a-civilization-1953-1991-9780241400852","provider":"Ariel","version":"1.0","type":"link"}