Moscow 1956 : the silenced spring
(Book)
Author
Published
Cambridge, Massachusetts : Harvard University Press, 2017.
Status
Central - Adult Nonfiction
947.085 SMITH
1 available
947.085 SMITH
1 available
Copies
Location | Call Number | Status |
---|---|---|
Central - Adult Nonfiction | 947.085 SMITH | Available |
Description
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More Details
Published
Cambridge, Massachusetts : Harvard University Press, 2017.
Format
Book
Physical Desc
434 pages ; 25 cm
Language
English
Notes
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Description
Joseph Stalin had been dead for three years when his successor, Nikita Khrushchev, stunned a closed gathering of Communist officials with a litany of his predecessor's abuses. Meant to clear the way for reform from above, Khrushchev's "Secret Speech" of February 25, 1956, shattered the myth of Stalin's infallibility. In a bid to rejuvenate the Party, Khrushchev had his report read out loud to members across the Soviet Union that spring. However, its message sparked popular demands for more information and greater freedom to debate. Moscow 1956: The Silenced Spring brings this first brief season of thaw into fresh focus. Drawing on newly declassified Russian archives, Kathleen Smith offers a month-by-month reconstruction of events as the official process of de-Stalinization unfolded and political and cultural experimentation flourished. Smith looks at writers, students, scientists, former gulag prisoners, and free-thinkers who took Khrushchev's promise of liberalization seriously, testing the limits of a more open Soviet system. But when anti-Stalin sentiment morphed into calls for democratic reform and eventually erupted in dissent within the Soviet bloc--notably in the Hungarian uprising--the Party balked and attacked critics. Yet Khrushchev had irreversibly opened his compatriots' eyes to the flaws of monopolistic rule. Citizens took the Secret Speech as inspiration and permission to opine on how to restore justice and build a better society, and the new crackdown only reinforced their discontent. The events of 1956 set in motion a cycle of reform and retrenchment that would recur until the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991.--,Provided by publisher.
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Citations
APA Citation, 7th Edition (style guide)
Smith, K. E. (2017). Moscow 1956: the silenced spring . Harvard University Press.
Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)Smith, Kathleen E.. 2017. Moscow 1956: The Silenced Spring. Harvard University Press.
Chicago / Turabian - Humanities (Notes and Bibliography) Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)Smith, Kathleen E.. Moscow 1956: The Silenced Spring Harvard University Press, 2017.
MLA Citation, 9th Edition (style guide)Smith, Kathleen E.. Moscow 1956: The Silenced Spring Harvard University Press, 2017.
Note! Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy. Citation formats are based on standards as of August 2021.
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