An Economic History of the U.S.S.R.

Professor Nove's concise and objective study of the growing-pains of a giant traces the economy of the U.S.S.R. from 'war communism' to the New Economic Policy of the early twenties, and thence, under Stalin's coercion, to the Soviet 'Great Leap Forward' of five-year plans, collectivization, and Stakhanovism. His account of these years reveals not only the author's close acquaintance with Soviet sources, but also his ability to divine the historical facts. After a brief survey of the distorted economy of the Second World War and of the years of recovery, Professor Nove describes the more liberal era of Malenkov and Krushchev, with their plans to expand the economy. He concludes with a notably fair-minded assessment of Russian achievement.