Soviet Empire

On Christmas, 1991, President George H. W. Bush addressed the nation to declare an American victory in the Cold War: Earlier that day Mikhail Gorbachev had resigned as the first and last Soviet president. The enshrining of that narrative, one in which the end of the Cold War was linked to the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the triumph of democratic values over communism, took center stage in American public discourse immediately after Bush's speech and has persisted for decades. As Serhii Plokhy reveals, the collapse of the Soviet Union was anything but the handiwork of the US.

Stalin: The Architect of Fear and the Soviet Empire is a powerful and accessible biography tracing Joseph Stalin’s rise from his troubled Georgian childhood to his domination of the Soviet Union. It reveals how he built and ruled a vast empire through ideology, ambition, and relentless terror, shaping the lives of millions and redefining the course of the twentieth century. The book explores Stalin’s complex personality—his intelligence, paranoia, emotional hardness, and surprising moments of sentiment—while examining his relationships with Lenin, his rivals, and his own family. It ...

The riveting story of the ring of spies known as the Cambridge Five, who infiltrated the highest levels of the British establishment and helped Stalin cement a half century of Soviet domination over Eastern Europe. “A brilliant book. Deep research and dazzling writing make Stalin’s Apostles...

Western interpretations of the Cold War--both realist and neoconservative--have erred by exaggerating either the Kremlin's pragmatism or its aggressiveness, argues Vladislav Zubok. Explaining the interests, aspirations, illusions, fears, and misperceptions of the Kremlin leaders and Soviet elites, Zubok offers a Soviet perspective on the greatest standoff of the 20th century.

I will not try to sell you on the notion that the Crimean War is an interesting subject, nor will I deliver a short synopsis. I see no point in that. The Russian original of this volume was something of a mess. It was my first effort at translating a big project, and I’m afraid I did a rather poor job with the edition that appeared in 2014. One thing that hindered me was the quite reasonable notion that a translator should not change an author’s work a great deal. So, I didn’t edit as much as I should have. There is no harm in eliminating redundancy and you, the reader, will never ...

Great cities are complex, chaotic and colossal. These are cities that dominate the world stage and define eras; where ideas flourish, revolutions are born and history is made. Through ten unique cities, from the founding of ancient capitals to buzzing modern megacities, Paul Strathern explores...

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize One of the Best Books of the Year: The New York Times From the editor of The New Yorker: a riveting account of the collapse of the Soviet Union, which has become the standard book on the subject. Lenin’s Tomb combines the global vision of the best historical...

For more than 40 years, communism held eight European nations in its iron fist. Yet by the end of 1989, all of these nations had thrown off communism, declared independence, and embarked on the road to democracy.

President Reagan's dramatic battle to win the Cold War is revealed as never before by the #1 bestselling author and award-winning anchor of the #1 rated Special Report with Bret Baier. ""An instant classic, if not the finest book to date on Ronald Reagan.” — Jay Winik Moscow, 1988: 1,000...

What happens when a nation loses its kingdom, its independence, and even its place on the map, yet refuses to disappear? History of Lithuania follows the extraordinary journey of a people whose story stretches from pagan Baltic tribes and medieval warriors to a modern European democracy. What you’re about to discover will change how you see Lithuania. Few people realize how powerful the Grand Duchy of Lithuania became, how far its influence reached, or how a country that once stood among Europe's great powers could later vanish under foreign rule. From the forests and sacred traditions of...

From a preeminent scholar of Eastern Europe and New York Times bestselling author, the essential history of Russian imperialism. “A singularly fascinating account of Russian nationalism through the ages.” —Financial Times In 2014, Russia annexed the Crimea and attempted to seize a portion...

A New York Times Bestseller The definitive history of Ukraine from antiquity to today. “An admirable new history.... In his elegant and careful exposition of Ukraine’s past, Mr. Plokhy has also provided some signposts to the future.” ―Economist As Ukraine is embroiled in an ongoing...

A powerful, unsparing new history of World War II, recasting the conflict as a brutal struggle for survival among declining and ascendant imperial powers In popular memory, the Second World War was an unalloyed victory for freedom over totalitarianism, marking the demise of the age of empires...

The Soviet Union is gone, but its ghostly traces remain, not least in the material vestiges left behind in its turbulent wake. What was it really like to live in the USSR? What did it look, feel, smell, and sound like? In The Soviet Century, Karl Schlögel, one of the world's leading historians of the Soviet Union, presents a spellbinding epic that brings to life the everyday world of a unique lost civilization. A museum of—and travel guide to—the Soviet past, The Soviet Century explores in evocative detail both the largest and smallest aspects of life in the USSR.

A bold new history of Europe, from ancient Greece to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. What do we talk about when we talk about Europe? Is it defined by geography? Or is it politics, or shared culture? In Europe, award-winning historian Roderick Beaton tells the story of Europe as never...

The definitive history of the self-destruction of the autocratic Romanov dynasty. “Filled with revelations and fresh insights and rich with observations.” —The Wall Street Journal In 1917, Imperial Russia faced a series of overlapping crises, from war to social unrest, that culminated in...

THE ENTHRALLING TRUE STORY OF BRITAIN'S MOST TREACHEROUS SPY RING - FEATURING NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN RESEARCH. *Orwell Prize for Political Writing Finalist 2026* 'Shocking. Gripping. Unputdownable. You thought you knew the Cambridge Five? Think again!' - DAMIEN LEWIS 'A definitive work on one of the...

The author of Free returns with an extraordinary inquiry into historical injustice, dignity, truth, and imagination. When Lea Ypi discovers a photo of her grandmother, Leman, honeymooning in the Alps in 1941 posted by a stranger on social media, she is faced with unsettling questions. Growing up...

A penetrating history of the year World War II became a global conflict and humankind confronted both destruction and deliverance on a planetary scale, “offering an intriguing perspective on a world at war” (Richard Overy, New York Times–bestselling author of Blood and Ruins) By the end of...

The story of the Crimean War from the Russian perspective. Do not expect the Charge of the Light Brigade here. Balaklava will be in Volume II. This volume deals in large part with the prelude to the war, and the campaigns on the Danube and in the Caucasus. Volume I ends as the British and French are preparing to land in Crimea Yevgeny Tarle was most interested in diplomacy; he writes about it in an instructive and entertaining way. Still, he had shortcomings as a historian. For one, he did not have the knack of describing military operations in a straightforward and concise manner. Verbose,...