The Shortest History of the Soviet Union

In 1917, the Bolsheviks came to power in a Russian Empire exhausted by World War I, against all predictions, including their own. In 1991, after about the average human lifespan, the Soviet Union collapsed as unexpectedly as it came into being. The decades between these two events were filled with tragedies of incredible scale — the chaos of the post-revolutionary years, famine and terror, the hard-won victory in the most devastating war in human history, and a global geopolitical conflict — but all these tragedies were inextricably intertwined with the dream of building a better society. The famous historian Sheila Fitzpatrick has compiled the most concise chronicle of the Soviet era — its beginnings, flourishing, and unexpected end, as well as its posthumous existence in today’s Russia.