Lenin's brain and other tales from the secret Soviet archives /

This slender volume offers much more than its small size suggests. Based on documents discovered in the Soviet state and Communist Party archives in the 1990s, the book reveals much about the way the Soviet system worked, especially during its early decades under Lenin and Stalin. The book is composed of 14 brief but illuminating chapters, including ones on the Katyn Massacre of 1940, Lenin's treatment of anti-Soviet intellectuals, and the decision that Soviet leaders took in 1979 to send troops to Afghanistan. Among the most unsettling documents printed and discussed here is NKVD Operational Order No. 00447, which set in motion Stalin's Great Terror of 1937-38. For each document, Gregory (Univ. of Houston) provides helpful background information accompanied by concise but lively analysis and a conclusion that explains the broader significance of each episode. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries. K. C. O'Connor Gonzaga University