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  • The Rise and Fall of Soviet Communism: A History of 20th-Century Russia

  • Written by: Gary Hamburg, The Great Courses
  • Narrated by: Gary Hamburg
  • Length: 12 hrs and 10 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (27 ratings)

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The Rise and Fall of Soviet Communism: A History of 20th-Century Russia

Written by: Gary Hamburg, The Great Courses
Narrated by: Gary Hamburg
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Publisher's Summary

From the Oval Office to the streets of Moscow, world leaders and ordinary citizens alike share interest and concerns about Russia. Can democracy survive there? What does the future hold for the once expansive and still powerful Russian nation? Is Soviet Communism truly dead?

These are the kinds of questions diplomats struggle with every day. And now, through this series of 16 incisive lectures by an acclaimed scholar of Russian history, you can begin investigating them for yourself as you take a probing historical journey through the recent history and near future of a key world power. Whether your chief interest is Russian or world history, political theory, or international relations, you'll take away fresh knowledge and insight as Professor Hamburg examines the improbable origins of Communist rule in Russia, the ascent of the Red Star to its zenith, and its decline and apparent end in the wake of 1989's events.

Using new material from previously sealed Soviet archives and covering recent controversial findings by both Russian and Western scholars, he begins with the failures of the czarist regime and the horrors of the First World War, then takes you through the bloody era of Josef Stalin's purges and beyond to Mikhail Gorbachev's perestroika to offer you a thoroughgoing analysis of the Soviet experiment.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©1996 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)1996 The Great Courses

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Some finer points to define

I am a fan of the great courses, and what makes them unique is that they are like podcasts but with less filler. This lecturer erms and uhs often. It's not detrimental to transmitting information, but it does lose the lecturer some style points. Another point to refine would be to provide a little more information on the small tangents. It's one thing to be in conversation and not know the origin of the unique term you've brought up. But if you are giving a lecture that you are providing regularly at a university, then you have the time to fully research every subject you discuss. He is clearly an expert in the history of Soviet communism. In several instances, he brings up a tangential topic and says that he is not an expert in it. That's fine; find an expert, do some research and give us the answer.

Despite my picky points, I enjoyed the lectures. Clear, informative, and dashed with some humour here and there.

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Fantastic!

I went into this with minimal knowledge of Russian history, and left the series with a solid grasp of the most crucial century in that nation's history. Bravo 👏

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this sucked ass

holy shit this is so bad, i guess read it if you want to listen to a weepy amerikkkan baby complain about communism instead of lecture on history. the course by steinberg is way better and its focus isn't even the 20th century

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