Revolution from abroad : the Soviet conquest of Poland's western Ukraine and western Belorussia /

Sociologist Gross's recent discovery of material relating to the Soviet occupation and annexation of western Poland and Belorussia (1939-41) led to this monograph, somewhat related to his Polish Society Under German Occupation: The Generalgouvernement, 1939-1944 (CH, Dec'79). Gross's style is readable, spiced with anecdotes from the questionnaires and interviews that constitute most of his source material. The multiethnic area in question was socially complex and historically confusing. Hence, the author's lucid analysis of the process of conquest, the establishment of Soviet governance,the imposition of Soviet institutions, and the imprisonment and deportation of large segments of the population is no mean achievement. Gross (Emory University) documents his data with extensive notes. This work should be compared with the anonymously written The Dark Side of the Moon (1947) and Polacy w ZSSR 1939-42: Antologia, ed. by M. Czapska (Paris, 1963). Although the topic of Gross's book is narrow, it covers an important episode in WW II that served as a prelude to subsequent Soviet expansion. Recommended for all libraries wanting a broad collection in this period of recent eastern European history. Upper-division undergraduates and above. -G. D. Nicoll, Beloit College

A well-written and carefully documented study. Gross examines surviving depositions and surveys collected by Polish authorities in the wake of the Soviet occupation of the western Ukraine and western Belorussia, 1939-41. Through the miseries of the common people he presents, Gross reveals the means by which the Soviets assumed power. The topics analyzed are dictated by the documents: conquest, elections, socialization, prisons, and deportations. The themes which emerge are twofold: the substitution of the rule of law for that of individuals and the destructive power of totalitarianism through wasted human talent. Highly recommended for academic and larger collections. Rena Fowler, Northern Michigan Univ. Lib., Marquette (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.