The first book to analyze the distinct leader cults that flourished in the era of 'High Stalinism' as an integral part of the system of dictatorial rule in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Fifteen studies explore the way in which these cults were established, their function and operation, their dissemination and reception, the place of the cults in art and literature, the exportation of the Stalin cult and its implantment in the communist states of Eastern Europe, and the impact which de-Stalinisation had on these cults.

Censorship and its counterpart - the 'underground' production and distribution of printed texts and images - have existed ever since a 'public sphere' came into being. This book approaches the phenomenon of underground publishing by covering various cases from the Tsarist Empire, the Soviet Union, Central Europe, South America, and China. From a global perspective, the well-known practice of samizdat - under Communist rule, a key form of dissident activity in which individuals reproduced censored publications by hand and passed the documents from reader to reader - may be understood as part...