History / Europe / Russia & the Former Soviet Union

Explores the Role of State Planners, Bureaucrats, and Experts as Agents of Change in the Natural World of Eastern Europe

A Nuanced Account of Pope John Paul II’s Historical Visits to Poland in the Late Communist Era

A Revealing Insider Account of the First Years of Russian Independence

Rising Subjects explores the change of the public sphere in Russian Poland during the 1905 Revolution. The 1905 Revolution was one of the few bottom-up political transformations and general democratizations in Polish history. It was a popular rebellion fostering political participation of the working class. The infringement of previously carefully guarded limits ...

The definitive biography of Russia’s first Tsar and one of its most infamous rulers.

Vladimir Fedorovich Dzhunkovsky, the subject of this book, was a witness to his country’s unfolding tragedy—the decay of the tsarist autocracy, world war, revolution, the rise of a new regime, and its descent into terror. But Dzhunkovsky was not just a passive observer, he was an active participant in the troubled and turbulent events of his time, often struggling against the tide. Overtaken by the Night paints a fascinating picture of Dzhunkovsky’s incredible life that reveals much about a long and crucial period in Russian history. It is a story of Russia in revolution reminiscent of the fictional Doctor Zhivago, but even more extraordinary for being true.

A Political and Comparative History of Environmentalism and Environmental Policy in the Communist and Capitalist Worlds During the Cold War Years

Grace Kennan Warnecke’s memoir is about a life lived on the edge of history. Daughter of one of the most influential diplomats of the twentieth century, wife of the scion of a newspaper dynasty and mother of the youngest owner of a major league baseball team, Grace eventually found her way out from under the shadows of others to forge a dynamic career of her own. This compelling and evocative memoir allows readers to follow Grace’s amazing path through life – a whirlwind journey of survival, risk, and self-discovery through a kaleidoscope of many countries, historic events, and fascinating people.

Explores the complex contours and contested meanings of religious freedom in Russia, from 1520 to the 1990s.

Traces the “Intellectual Romance” between the European Far Right, and Their Russian Counter-parts.

A Broad Look at the Environmental History of Eurasia

Strategic Frames analyzes minority policies in Estonia and Latvia following their independence from the Soviet Union. It weighs the powerful influence of both Europe and Russia on their policy choices, and how this intersected with the costs and benefits of policy changes for the politicians in each state.

Bread upon the Waters chronicles how the unparalleled effort put into the building of a wide infrastructure to support the provisioning of the newly created but physically isolated city of St. Petersburg profoundly affected all of Russia’s economic life and, ultimately, the historical trajectory of the Russian Empire as a whole.

Before the collapse of the Soviet Union and the subsequent archival revolution, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s famous “literary investigation” The Gulag Archipelago was the most authoritative overview of the Stalinist system of camps. This volume develops a much more thorough and nuanced understanding of the Gulag. It brings a greater awareness of the wide variety of camps, the forced labor system, and the Gulag as viewed in a global historical context, among many other topics. It also offers fascinating new interpretations of the interrelationship and importance of the Gulag to the larger Soviet political and economic system, and how they were in fact, parts of the same entity.

This is the first English translation of an important Russian social novel (published in 1865) that enjoyed great popularity in its day, the period of Tsar Alexander’s great reforms. Sleptsov deals with complex political issues such as the abolition of serfdom, political repression, women’s rights, and the conflict between liberalism and radicalism among intellectuals. Highly readable, it provides important historical insights on the political and social climate of a volatile and transformative period in Russia history.