Russia Under Khrushchev

Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (1894-1971) was a politician who led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953-1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958-1964. Khrushchev was responsible for the de-Stalinization of the Soviet Union, for backing the progress of the early Soviet space program, and for several relatively liberal reforms in areas of domestic policy. Khrushchev’s party colleagues removed him from power in 1964, replacing him with Leonid Brezhnev as First Secretary and Alexei Kosygin as Premier. Originally published in 1961, “concerns what I call the Khrushchev phase, rather than the Khrushchev epoch. An “epoch” suggests something complete, with clearly-defined limits and contours, and sharply-marked characteristics. A “phase,” especially one still in progress, is something much more fluid. During these years, dominated by Khrushchev, the most changeable, most empirical and sometimes most unpredictable of Soviet leaders, Russia continues to be in a state of flux and transition.” (Author’s Note) The book is a political and cultural analysis of Khrushchev’s Russia and its relations with the West, and particularly with the United States. “From inside the Iron Curtain...a very human portrayal.”—The Times, London

This book presents a new picture of the politics, economics and process of government in the Soviet Union under the leadership of Nikita Khrushchev. Based in large part on original research in recently declassified archive collections, the book examines the full complexity of government, including formal and informal political relationships; economic reforms and nationality relations in the national republics of the USSR; the treatment of political dissent; economic progress through technological innovation; relations with the Eastern bloc; corruption and deceit in the economy; and the reform of the railways and construction sectors. The book re-evaluates the Khrushchev era as one which represented a significant departure from the Stalin years, introducing a number of policy changes that only came to fruition later, whilst still suffering from many of the limitations imposed by the Stalinist system. Unlike many other studies which consider the subject from the perspective of the Cold War and superpower relations, this book provides an overview of the internal development of the Soviet Union in this period, locating it in the broader context of Soviet history. This is the companion volume to the Jeremy Smith and Melanie Ilic’s previous edited collection, Soviet State and Society under Nikita Khrushchev (Routledge, 2009).

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award The definitive biography of the mercurial Soviet leader who succeeded and denounced Stalin. Nikita Khrushchev was one of the most complex and important political figures of the twentieth century. Ruler of the Soviet Union during the first decade after Stalin's death, Khrushchev left a contradictory stamp on his country and on the world. His life and career mirror the Soviet experience: revolution, civil war, famine, collectivization, industrialization, terror, world war, cold war, Stalinism, post-Stalinism. Complicit in terrible Stalinist crimes, Khrushchev nevertheless retained his humanity: his daring attempt to reform communism prepared the ground for its eventual collapse; and his awkward efforts to ease the cold war triggered its most dangerous crises. This is the first comprehensive biography of Khrushchev and the first of any Soviet leader to reflect the full range of sources that have become available since the USSR collapsed. Combining a page-turning historical narrative with penetrating political and psychological analysis, this book brims with the life and excitement of a man whose story personified his era.

The road to glastnost and perestroika began with Nikita Khrushchev. It was his 1956 "secret speech" to the Twentieth Party Congress that, for the first time, publicly acknowledged the horrors of Stalinism and sparked the dismantling of the stultifying Stalin regime. One of Khrushchev's closest advisors has now written the true story of his rule. 12 pages of halftones.

This book examines the social and cultural impact of the 'thaw' in Cold War relations, decision-making and policy formation in the Soviet Union under Nikita Khrushchev. With individual case studies exploring key aspects of Khrushchev's period of office, it offers an important new perspective on the Khrushchev era.

Drawing on previously inaccessible records, this book discusses love, sex, marriage, divorce, and child-rearing during Khrushchev's «thaw» of the 1950s and early 1960s. It analyses the Soviet government's attempts to supervise private life and enforce communist morality, and it describes the diverse ways in which people responded to official prescriptions. Written in a lively and accessible style, this book provides an innovative exploration of the interactions between Soviet ideology and everyday life.

First Published in 1962, Russia under Kruschev is a comprehensive collection of articles from Problems of Communism, a journal published by U.S. Information Agency. These provide a chronological and thematic commentary on internal developments in Soviet Union varying from the changes in official ideology to the latest development in Soviet agriculture. They provide the broadest picture of the political, economic, and cultural trends of Kruschev’s Russia, and represent a galaxy of writing talent including work by Carew Hunt, Lowenthal, Avon, Dallin, de Jouvenel, Peter Wiles and others. This is an interesting read for scholars of Russian history and Soviet history.