Soviet Union

In 1917, writes Jamie H. Cockfield, the American Ambassador’s valet reported on revolutionary events in Russia through letters to the family at home.

Rex Winsbury describes how, for two and a half years during the Russian Civil War, Trotsky’s headquarters were his mobile train.

Lionel Kochan describes how ‘the game of kings’ found its apotheosis in the Soviet Union; the country of the proletariat.

The collapse of the USSR after 1989 opened up Russia’s Arctic region to a degree of scrutiny previously denied historians. Katherine Harrison and Matthew Hughes examine the Soviet approach to nuclear testing.

David Footman assesses the death and legacy of a White Russian leader.

The impact of the Soviet Revolution in October 1917 has been so overwhelming that we seldom look back to the February days when the Tsar was compelled to abdicate forty-eight hours after the outbreak of disturbances, and even more seldom to the First Revolution of 1905. Yet, A.J. Halpern writes, October came as a culmination of the February crisis, and 1905 was the necessary prologue to the 1917 drama. 

David Mitchell inspects Marinetti’s various admirations: the beauty of speed and war, and the destructive gestures of anarchists.

Sir Robert Hodgson recounts his experience of interaction with Bolshevik diplomats.

On March 16, 1921 the first Anglo-Soviet Trade Agreement was signed; Sir Robert Hodgson headed Britain’s Commercial Mission to Moscow.

Leonard Schapiro examines the reasons behind the failure of the other revolutionary forces in revolutionary Russia.