The Soviet Century: Archaeology of a Lost World

Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press. Fine in Fine dust jacket. 2023. First Edition (?). First Printing. Hard Cover. 0691183740 . Includes extensive Notes and Index. An encyclopedic and richly detailed history of everyday life in the Soviet Union. 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 Schloegel, one of the world's leading historians of the Soviet Union, presents a spell-binding epic that brings to life the everyday world of a unique lost civilisation. 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, from the Gulag, the planned economy, the railway system, and the steel city of Magnitogorsk, to cookbooks, military medals, prison camp tattoos, and the ubiquitous perfume Red Moscow. The book examines iconic aspects of Soviet life, including long queues outside shops, cramped communal apartments, parades, and the Lenin mausoleum, as well as less famous but important parts of the USSR, including the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, the voice of Radio Moscow, graffiti, and even the typical toilet, which became a pervasive social and cultural topic. Drawing on Schloegel's decades of travel in the Soviet and post-Soviet world, and featuring more than eighty illustrations, The Soviet Century is vivid, immediate, and grounded in firsthand encounters with the places and objects it describes. The result is an unforgettable account of the Soviet Century.. Both the volume and the unclipped dust jacket are in virtually perfect condition; unmarked, tight, square, and clean. A large, heavy book (five pounds) - additional shipping charges may apply. FINE/FINE.. Photographs. Large 8vo 9" - 10" tall. xx, (i), 906 pp .