Through his brilliant work on the Soviet Union during the Second World War and his penetrating interpretations of the Soviet system and its place in world politics, Alex Dallin exercised a profound influence on generations of scholars. His research remains important not only for the substance of his analyses but also for the thoughtful and probing intelligence he brought to the issue of how to study the Soviet Union. It is very good to have these examples of his writing available together in this book.
- David Holloway, Stanford University,
These ten essays reflect the remarkable breadth and analytic depth that marked Alex Dallin's preeminence as a teacher and scholar. Their insights continue to inform our understanding of Soviet and post-Soviet history and politics by critiquing, retrospectively, many common and distorting assumptions. As they are brought together in this new volume, Dallin's writings again constitute a refreshing and most welcome contribution to the historical and contemporary literature.
- William G. Rosenberg, University of Michigan,
Chapter 1: Alexander Dallin: A Singular Voice
Part I: Studying the Soviet System
Chapter 2: Bias and Blunders in American Studies on the USSR
Chapter 3: The Uses and Abuses of Russian History
Part II: The Soviet Union in World War II
Chapter 4: Stalin and the German Invasion
Chapter 5: The Soviet Reaction to Vlasov
Chapter 6: The Baltic States between Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia
Part III: The Linkage of Domestic and Foreign Policy
Chapter 7: The Domestic Sources of Soviet Foreign Policy
Chapter 8: Reagan and the Russians: American Policy Toward the Soviet Union
Chapter 9: New Thinking in Soviet Foreign Policy
Part IV: Soviet Politics and the End of the USSR
Chapter 10: Causes of the Collapse of the USSR
Chapter 11: Where Have All the Flowers Gone?