This ground-breaking book examines the Soviet ruling elite over the entire period of Communist rule. It serves as a collective biography of nearly two thousand people who served on the Communist Party's Central Committee from 1917 to 1991. The book is based on archival research, only available after the collapse of communism, and extensive interviews with former Central Committee members.

Ranging from the Russian revolution of 1917 to the collapse of Eastern Europe in the 1980s, this study examines communist rule. By focusing primarily on the USSR and Eastern Europe, Stephen White covers the major topics and issues affecting these countries, including: communism as a doctrine; the evolution of communist rule; the challenges to Soviet authority in Hungary and Yugoslavia; the emerging economic fragility of the 1960s; and the complex process of collapse in the 1980s.

Ranging from the Russian revolution of 1917 to the collapse of Eastern Europe in the 1980s this study examines Communist rule. By focusing primarily on the USSR and Eastern Europe Stephen White covers the major topics and issues affecting these countries, including:
* communism as a doctrine
* the evolution of Communist rule
* the challenges to Soviet authority in Hungary and Yugoslavia
* the emerging economic fragility of the 1960s
* the complex process of collapse in the 1980s.

Any student or scholar of European history will find this an essential addition to their...

Dramatic and confusing changes in what used to be the Soviet Union have transformed the world in which we live. This fourth edition of Stephen White's best-selling introductory text has been revised throughout and examines the full cycle of this period of revolutionary change from its Brezhnevite origins to the first turbulent years of Yeltsin's troubled presidency. After Gorbachev will continue to provide an unrivaled guide to the processes of transition, upheaval and collapse that now characterize Russia and the post-Soviet republics.

Russia's transition from communism holds great significance not only for itself but also for the wider world. This collection of essays examines the spectrum of Russia's transition since 1991 - considering not only the pattern of events but also what the changes have meant for Russians themselves.

Belarus is one of the least studied European states to emerge from the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. In fact, few Western specialists paid much attention to its affairs during the Soviet era. Nevertheless, Belarus constitutes an important and sensitive border region between Russia and the western part of the continent. In Postcommunist Belarus, a stellar group of contributors examines the issues and the search for identity that Belarus has confronted in the period leading up to and following independence. The country is run in an authoritarian fashion by President Alexander Lukashenko...

This authoritative work examines recent changes in Russia's relations with the EU and NATO and explores the patterns of support for these various orientations among its own elites and public.

• Investigates Russian engagement with the enlarged European Union and NATO.
  
• Evaluates the serious choices to be made on both sides about the obstacles to good relations, and about the policies to enable a form of Russian 'inclusion without membership'.
  
• Draws on extensive interviews with Russian decision-makers as well as a body of new survey...

An international collection of papers focused on media, culture and society in postcommunist Russia. Contributors deploy a wealth of primary data in examining the kinds of issues that are central to our understanding of the kind of system that has been established in the worlds largest country after a period of far-reaching change.

What does 'belonging to Europe' mean for the European Union's eastern neighbours? Over the past two decades, Russia, Ukraine and Belarus have experienced dramatic and sometimes bitterly contested changes in their relations with the European Union and with each other. Marking a decisive step forward in the literature, White and Feklyunina explain the major shifts in the foreign policies of these three countries by tracing their identity debates throughout the post-Soviet period. Based on extensive empirical research over more than a decade, including interviews, focus groups and national...

The third edition of this text provides a background to the politics of China, Eastern Europe and what was the Soviet Union. The book has been rewritten throughout to reflect the emergence of pluralist multi-party systems and non Communist governments are marked.