{"product_id":"stalins-usable-past-a-critical-edition-of-the-1937-short-history-of-the-ussr-9781503637863","title":"Stalin's Usable Past: A Critical Edition of the 1937 Short History of the USSR","description":"\u003cp\u003eAt the height of the Great Terror in 1937, Joseph Stalin took a break from the purges to edit a new textbook on the history of the USSR. Published shortly thereafter, the \u003ci\u003eShort History of the USSR\u003c\/i\u003e amounted to an ideological sea change. Stalin had literally rewritten Russo-Soviet History, breaking with two decades of Bolshevik propaganda that styled the 1917 Revolution as the start of a new era. In its place, he established a thousand-year pedigree for the Soviet state that stretched back through the Russian empire and Muscovy to the very dawn of Slavic civilization. Appearing in million-copy print runs through 1955, the \u003ci\u003eShort History\u003c\/i\u003e transformed how a generation of Soviet citizens were to understand the past, not only in public school and adult indoctrination courses, but on the printed page, the theatrical stage, and the silver screen.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eStalin's Usable Past\u003c\/i\u003e supplies a critical edition of the \u003ci\u003eShort History\u003c\/i\u003e that both analyzes the text and places it in historical context. By highlighting Stalin's precise redactions and embellishments, historian David Brandenberger reveals the scope of Stalin's personal involvement in the textbook's development, documenting in unprecedented detail his plans for the transformation of Soviet society's historical imagination.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eDavid Brandenberger\u003c\/b\u003e is professor of history at the University of Richmond.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Stanford University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50457958416658,"sku":"9781503637863","price":78.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_5ab1ae6f-c5d8-4f88-9d22-0c91b85b719c.jpg?v=1729947464","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/stalins-usable-past-a-critical-edition-of-the-1937-short-history-of-the-ussr-9781503637863","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}