New Books in Russian and Eurasian Studies
Society & Culture
On January 21, 1924 and at the age of 53, Vladimir Lenin passed away. We’ve now had a century of a world without him, but also a century of a world undeniably changed by his imprint. In commemoration of his life, Verso has recently put out a collection of classic works both by and about this pivotal figure. One of these books, a short biographical sketch called Lenin’s Childhood, is the topic of today’s conversation, although it’s really only a jumping off point for my guest and I to talk about the book’s author, the Marxist historian and biographer Isaac Deutscher. Best known for his biographies of Stalin and his trilogy on Trotsky, Lenin’s Childhood is the only completed piece of an attempted two-volume study that would’ve completed his biographical work, and set the stage for a greater study of Russian history in general. While his untimely death in 1967 cut his work short, he still left a rich body of writing worth wrestling with. Throughout our conversation, we discuss Deutscher’s life, work and legacy, and encourage listeners to revisit his work as still relevant for contemporary readers.
Our guest today, Gonzalo Pozo, wrote the introduction to the new edition of Lenin’s Childhood, and is currently working on a biography of Isaac Deutscher.
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Endre Sashalmi, "Russian Notions of Power and State in a European Perspective, 1462-1725: Assessing the Significance of Peter's Reign" (Academic Studies Press, 2022)
Elise Herrala, "Art of Transition: The Field of Art in Post-Soviet Russia" (Routledge, 2021)
On the (Still Bright) Future of Nostalgia
Samuel Ramani, "Putin's War on Ukraine: Russia’s Campaign for Global Counter-Revolution" (Hurst, 2023)
Toward a More Expansive View of Medieval Europe: Kyivan Rus and Norman Salerno in the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries
Mark Edele, "Russia's War Against Ukraine: The Whole Story" (Melbourne University, 2023)
Olena Palko and Manuel Férez Gil, "Ukraine's Many Faces: Land, People, and Culture Revisited" (Transcript Publishing, 2023)
Jacob Mikanowski, "Goodbye, Eastern Europe: An Intimate History of a Divided Land" (Pantheon Books, 2023)
Xenia A. Cherkaev, "Gleaning for Communism: The Soviet Socialist Household in Theory and Practice" (Cornell UP, 2023)
Andrii Portnov, "Dnipro: An Entangled History of a European City" (Academic Studies Press, 2022)
Yiannis Kokosalakis, "Building Socialism: The Communist Party and the Making of the Soviet System, 1921–1941" (Cambridge UP, 2023)
Christopher Miller, "The War Came To Us: Life and Death in Ukraine" (Bloomsbury, 2023)
Alexander Hill, "The War on the Eastern Front: The Soviet Union, 1941-1945 - A Photographic History" (Pen & Sword Military, 2021)
Archaeology and Nomadism in the Russian Empire: An interview with Ismael Biyashev
Sheila Miyoshi Jager, "The Other Great Game: The Opening of Korea and the Birth of Modern East Asia" (Harvard UP, 2023)
Jeffrey S. Kopstein and Jason Wittenberg, "Intimate Violence: Anti-Jewish Pogroms on the Eve of the Holocaust" (Cornell UP, 2018)
Jade McGlynn, "Memory Makers: The Politics of the Past in Putin's Russia" (Bloomsbury, 2023)
Alfred J. Rieber, "Stalin As Warlord" (Yale UP, 2022)
Serhii Plokhy, "The Russo-Ukrainian War: The Return of History" (Norton, 2023)
Jane Rogoyska, "Surviving Katyn: Stalin's Polish Massacre and the Search for Truth" (Oneworld, 2021)
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