The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union (History of Russia)

The Story of the Soviet Experiment

The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union traces the dramatic journey of one of history’s most powerful and enigmatic states—from the revolutionary upheavals of 1917 to the collapse of the USSR in 1991, and the emergence of post-Soviet Russia under Vladimir Putin.
This comprehensive history explores the rise of Lenin and the Bolsheviks, Stalin’s brutal consolidation of power, the transformative impact of industrialization and collectivization, and the global tensions of the Cold War. It examines the policies, struggles, and reforms that shaped Soviet society, the eventual unraveling of the communist system, and the enduring legacy of Soviet institutions in contemporary Russia.
The book also delves into the Ukrainian war, analyzing its historical causes, Russia’s motivations, and the potential outcomes of this ongoing conflict. Richly detailed and accessible, this work offers readers a vivid, nuanced understanding of the forces that created—and continue to shape—Russia and its neighbors.

AI Narrator Mistakes

The scholarship is sound and the author is credible and prolific.

However, the AI narrator has not been well programmed. For example, it pronounces the name Stalin correctly until it’s made possessive. Then it is mispronounced as “stay-lynn.”

And every time the word Poland is made possessive, it is pronounced like “(nail) polish.”

I understand the reason to choose AI because the author has written a hundred plus hours of historical texts in Spanish. But I’m certain that Audible could do a better job at programming the AI.

Great book

The AI voice was gibberish sometimes. Often mispronounced names and later pronounced correctly. Made it hard to follow at times