Lenin's Brain and Other Tales from the Secret Soviet Archives

Editorial Reviews
Review
From Newsweek
Since the Soviet archives yielded up vast numbers of newly declassified documents in the 1990s, scholars have been sifting through them to find previously unknown stories or new details that cast well-known events in a new light. Lenin's Brain and Other Tales From the Soviet Archives by Paul R. Gregory draws on the author's experiences presiding over a team of scholars who have mined the Hoover Institution's extensive collection of documents from Soviet state and party archives. The result is an enticingly short (164 pages) sampler of stories from the archives that offer a glimpse into how the Soviet system worked in all its chilling inhumanity, not just under Stalin but also under his successors. This slim book is just the right antidote to the often daunting studies most scholars produce after working in the archives. The hefty books certainly serve their purpose. But Gregory has wisely chosen to reach out to a broader audience by providing a highly accessible primer on the deadly workings of the state that proclaimed itself the workers' paradise. In the process he provides a timely reminder of how quickly a utopian vision can be transformed into a nightmarish reality. --Copyright @ 2008 Newsweek, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Description

The secret world of the Soviet Union revealed
The opening of the once-secret Soviet state and party archives in the early 1990s proved to be an event of exceptional significance. When Western scholars broke down the official wall of secrecy that had stood for decades, they gained access to intriguing new knowledge they had previously only had been able to speculate about. In this fascinating volume, Paul Gregory takes us behind scenes and into the archives to illuminate the dark inner workings of the Soviet Union.

He reveals, for example, the bizarre story of the state-sponsored scientific study of Lenin's brain. Originally conceived to "prove" Lenin's genius, the plan was never revealed to the public--for to do so was more than the security-conscious Soviet leadership could have borne. Gregory also exposes the harsh features of Stalin's criminal justice system--in which the theft of state and collective property was punished far more severely than the theft of private property. Indeed, the theft of small amounts of grain was punishable by ten years in the Gulag or a death sentence. The author also illuminates the true story behind the December 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, telling how the ill-conceived incursion was ordered by a Politburo of aging and ill leaders who would not be around to deal with the long-term consequences of their decision.

In addition, the book examines such topics as Stalin's Great Terror, the day-to-day life of Gulag guards, Lenin's repression of "noncommunist" physicians and his purge of intellectuals, the 1940 Soviet execution of 20,000 Poles, and other previously well-concealed tales.

Paul Gregory, a Hoover Institution research fellow, holds an endowed professorship in the Department of Economics at the University of Houston, Texas, and is a research professor at the German Institute for Economic Research in Berlin.

http://www.amazon.com/Lenins-Brain-Secret-Soviet-Archives/dp/0817948120/...