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mattlb 's review for:
Red Famine: Stalin's War on Ukraine
by Anne Applebaum
This was an exceptionally good book about Ukraine in the 1920s to WWII and Soviet agricultural economics. What stands out is how sever the consequences were political blacklisting and economic warfare by the Soviet Union on the nation.
The book covers the time period from about late-stage Russian civil war, the first famine, the Ukrainizarion policies to appease people after the famine in Ukraine and the north Caucasus provinces, and finally the political blacklisting of Ukrainian leaders and starvation under Stalin.
There are some insights on how Stalin reacted to knowingly failed policies, the paranoia of Soviet leaders about Ukrainian nationalism and culture, and lots of examples of ethnic cleansing that affect todays politics, borders, and people.
Applebaum as usual has more exposition in the middle sections than is needed for anyone not writing a thesis on collectivism or agronomics. That can be annoying, but the thoroughness lets Applebaum make her points about why these systems hurt so many well.
The other problem with the book is that it’s hard to pick up and read. You’d need a working knowledge of the Bolsheviks and White counterparts, some knowledge of pre-Revolution Tsarist policies, and understanding of why WWI was fought and how paranoi affected people in the interwar period, and some idea about the regional politics within the Soviet Union and how Soviet institutions work, and basic economic knowledge.
So great book for people who want to read high-level research on significant historical issues that have massive implications currently, but not an easy book to pick up without a lot of contextual knowledge.
The book covers the time period from about late-stage Russian civil war, the first famine, the Ukrainizarion policies to appease people after the famine in Ukraine and the north Caucasus provinces, and finally the political blacklisting of Ukrainian leaders and starvation under Stalin.
There are some insights on how Stalin reacted to knowingly failed policies, the paranoia of Soviet leaders about Ukrainian nationalism and culture, and lots of examples of ethnic cleansing that affect todays politics, borders, and people.
Applebaum as usual has more exposition in the middle sections than is needed for anyone not writing a thesis on collectivism or agronomics. That can be annoying, but the thoroughness lets Applebaum make her points about why these systems hurt so many well.
The other problem with the book is that it’s hard to pick up and read. You’d need a working knowledge of the Bolsheviks and White counterparts, some knowledge of pre-Revolution Tsarist policies, and understanding of why WWI was fought and how paranoi affected people in the interwar period, and some idea about the regional politics within the Soviet Union and how Soviet institutions work, and basic economic knowledge.
So great book for people who want to read high-level research on significant historical issues that have massive implications currently, but not an easy book to pick up without a lot of contextual knowledge.