Soviet-Empire.com U.S.S.R. and communism historical discussion.
15 Nov 2005, 22:14
Pat Sloan, in his book "Soviet Democracy" paints a somewhat idealised picture of the Soviet system under Stalin, how far - guys - is his stance vindicated. I know that he talks of the Soviets being core to Russian Society, but I thought they were abolished in the Stalin era. Has anybody else read this book? Comment please.
18 Nov 2005, 04:28
Weren't the soviets government appointed civil servants during Stalin's era? I'll have to some how fact check that, or have someone tell me if I'm right or not.
Would you recommend it?
Would you recommend it?
18 Nov 2005, 18:08
Well, the book seems to be describing the 1918 constitution in work, but it glosses over significant changes within the Russian system by the time Stalin had come into power, and the fight against the new Russian intellegensia, or at least their censorship.
I'd reccomend it as a longer version of a Soviet constitution, and as a guideline on how to set about being having a democratic Proletarian state, however, as I say, this book contrariwise to what I may have thought, says nought on Stalin.
I'd reccomend it as a longer version of a Soviet constitution, and as a guideline on how to set about being having a democratic Proletarian state, however, as I say, this book contrariwise to what I may have thought, says nought on Stalin.
05 Jul 2014, 16:06
I know this thread is ancient, but the book has been put online: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B1ZP6Zu ... QxYmM/edit
(you can download it by clicking File on the upper left and then... yeah.)
I physically own a copy. It's a good read, Sloan lived in the USSR for some time before writing the book and he debunks a few misconceptions (e.g. role of the party in public life, the role of the press, etc.) In subsequent decades though Sloan endorsed the revisionist course of the CPGB after 1956 and by the time of his death was not only criticizing Stalin and "Stalinism" but seems to have represented a grouping within the CPGB that was more to the right than said revisionists.
(you can download it by clicking File on the upper left and then... yeah.)
I physically own a copy. It's a good read, Sloan lived in the USSR for some time before writing the book and he debunks a few misconceptions (e.g. role of the party in public life, the role of the press, etc.) In subsequent decades though Sloan endorsed the revisionist course of the CPGB after 1956 and by the time of his death was not only criticizing Stalin and "Stalinism" but seems to have represented a grouping within the CPGB that was more to the right than said revisionists.
06 Jul 2014, 05:53
Havee3333333 wrote:Ismail, this thread was 9 years old.
Ismail wrote:You can find tons of other 1920s-50s Soviet books here, scanned by the same persons: https://drive.google.com/folderview?id= ... mJoeVRJUlEI know this thread is ancient, but the book has been put online
28 Jul 2015, 22:06
Another book by Pat Sloan, put out two years after Soviet Democracy, is titled Russia Without Illusions and is another interesting read. It deals with some of the same subjects as his previous book (and various other subjects not touched upon in the former) but on a more "personal" level, since it's basically an autobiography of his time working in the USSR: https://archive.org/details/russiwithoutillu00sloarich