Russia And Soul

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Russia and Soul

Author : Dale Pesmen
Publisher : Cornell University Press
ISBN 13 : 1501729381
Total Pages : 381 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (17 download)

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Book Synopsis Russia and Soul by : Dale Pesmen

Download or read book Russia and Soul written by Dale Pesmen and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2018-08-06 with total page 381 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This ethnography of everyday life in contemporary Russia is also an examination of discourses and practices of "soul" or dusha. Russian soul has historically appeared as a myth, a consoling fiction, and a trope of national and individual self-definition that drew romantic foreigners to Russia. Dale Pesmen shows that in the 1990s this "soul" was scorned, worshipped, and used to create, manipulate, and exploit cultural capital. Pesmen focuses on "soul" in part as what people chose to do and how they did it, especially practices considered "definitive" of Russians, such as hospitality, the use of alcoholic beverages, steam baths, Russian language, music, and suffering. Attempting to avoid narrow definitions of soul as a thing, Pesmen developed a new way of structuring ethnographic interviews.During her stay in a formerly "closed" military industrial city and surrounding villages, Pesmen spent time on public transportation and in kitchens, steam baths, vegetable gardens, shops, and workplaces. She uses stories from her fieldwork along with examples from the media and literature to introduce a phenomenology of russkaia dusha and of related American and other non-Russian metaphysical notions, exploring diverse elements in their makeup, examining and questioning the world created when people believe in the existence of such "deep," "vast," "enigmatic," "internal" centers. Among theoretical issues she addresses are those of power, community, self, exchange, coherence, and morality. Pesmen's attention to dusha gives her a multifaceted perspective on Russian culture and society and informs her rich portrayal of life in a Russian city at a historically critical moment.

Reflections on the Russian Soul

Author : Dmitry S. Likhachev
Publisher : Central European University Press
ISBN 13 : 9633864925
Total Pages : 344 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (338 download)

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Book Synopsis Reflections on the Russian Soul by : Dmitry S. Likhachev

Download or read book Reflections on the Russian Soul written by Dmitry S. Likhachev and published by Central European University Press. This book was released on 2000-01-06 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This compelling and often traumatic book is the memoir of one of the most important figures in modern Russian history, Dmitry S. Likhachev, revered as ‘a guardian of national culture’. Reflections on the Russian Soul is an incredible account of an intellectual’s turbulent journey through twentieth century Russia. Likhachev re-counts the fortunes of people with whom he came into contact and reproduces the air of passed years in Russia. Likhachev vividly portrays his childhood years in St. Petersburg and continues into his student life at Leningrad University that led to an agonizing period of imprisonment and near death. He describes how a harmless prank caught the attention of the Secret Police, resulting in his exile and confinement within the infamous prison island of Solovki. He describes his first-hand experience of brutality in prison during the early Stalin years and the incident that not only saved him but also haunted him for the rest of his life. He reflects on the years after his release from prison and the events leading up to the Second World War. His powerful recollection of the blockade of Leningrad provides the reader with a horrific insight into the harsh effects of war, hunger and survival. Lichachev goes on to describe post-war Russia and how his own livelihood developed from literary editor to a return to Leningrad University as Professor of History. This compelling autobiography finishes with Likhachev’s poignant return to Solovki as a free man.

The Slave Soul of Russia

Author : Daniel Rancour-Laferriere
Publisher : NYU Press
ISBN 13 : 0814774822
Total Pages : 344 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (147 download)

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Book Synopsis The Slave Soul of Russia by : Daniel Rancour-Laferriere

Download or read book The Slave Soul of Russia written by Daniel Rancour-Laferriere and published by NYU Press. This book was released on 1995 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why, asks Daniel Rancour-Laferriere in this controversial book, has Russia been a country of suffering? Russian history, religion, folklore, and literature are rife with suffering. The plight of Anna Karenina, the submissiveness of serfs in the 16th and 17th centuries, ancient religious tracts emphasizing humility as the mother of virtues, the trauma of the Bolshevik revolution, the current economic upheavals wracking the country-- these are only a few of the symptoms of what The Slave Soul of Russia identifies as a veritable cult of suffering that has been centuries in the making. Bringing to light dozens of examples of self-defeating activities and behaviors that have become an integral component of the Russian psyche, Rancour-Laferriere convincingly illustrates how masochism has become a fact of everyday life in Russia. Until now, much attention has been paid to the psychology of Russia's leaders and their impact on the country's condition. Here, for the first time, is a compelling portrait of the Russian people's psychology.

Engineers of the Soul

Author : Frank Westerman
Publisher : Abrams
ISBN 13 : 1468305336
Total Pages : 219 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (683 download)

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Book Synopsis Engineers of the Soul by : Frank Westerman

Download or read book Engineers of the Soul written by Frank Westerman and published by Abrams. This book was released on 2012-08-07 with total page 219 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A “fascinating” account of how Gorky, Pasternak, and other great writers were coerced to create propaganda for Stalin (Cleveland Plain Dealer). Sunday Times Best Travel Book of the Year In the Soviet Union, writers of renown, described by Stalin as “engineers of the soul,” were encouraged to sing the praises of canal and dam construction under titles such as Energy: The Hydraulic Power Station and Onward, Time! But their enthusiasm—spontaneous and idealistic at first—soon became obligatory, and as these colossal waterworks led to slavery and destruction, Soviet writers such as Maxim Gorky, Isaak Babel, Konstantin Paustovsky, and Boris Pasternak were forced to labor on in the service of a deluded totalitarian society. Combining investigative journalism with literary history, Engineers of the Soul is a journey through contemporary Russia and Soviet-era literature. Frank Westerman, a correspondent living in post-Communist Moscow, examines both the culture landscape under Stalin’s rule and the books—and lives—of writers caught in the wheels of the Soviet system as art and reality were bent to radically new purposes. “Engagingly written and extensively researched, the book covers compelling historical and literary ground.” —Financial Times “A detailed and enthralling account of his journey through Soviet literature including discovering the revolution’s best kept secrets while trying to appreciate the talented writers who created a web of deceit in the name of success.” —Publishers Weekly “A literary travelogue revealing a remarkable geography and a strange, fraught alliance when the pen was not as mighty as the hammer and sickle of the Soviet Union . . . insightful.” —Kirkus Reviews

Soul to Soul

Author : Yelena Khanga
Publisher : W W Norton & Company Incorporated
ISBN 13 : 9780393311556
Total Pages : 352 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (115 download)

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Book Synopsis Soul to Soul by : Yelena Khanga

Download or read book Soul to Soul written by Yelena Khanga and published by W W Norton & Company Incorporated. This book was released on 1994 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Yelena Khanga tells the compelling story of growing up black in Russia and journeying through cultures to learn about her forebears and meet relatives she had never known. From the days of slavery in the cotton fields of Mississippi to the Moscow of Stalin and Brezhnev, from Jewish New York and Harlem in the twenties to modern-day Los Angeles, Long Island, and Zanzibar, Soul to Soul is a four-generation family memoir.

South African Literature's Russian Soul

Author : Jeanne-Marie Jackson
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1472593006
Total Pages : 249 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (725 download)

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Book Synopsis South African Literature's Russian Soul by : Jeanne-Marie Jackson

Download or read book South African Literature's Russian Soul written by Jeanne-Marie Jackson and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2015-10-22 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How do great moments in literary traditions arise from times of intense social and political upheaval? South African Literature's Russian Soul charts the interplay of narrative innovation and political isolation in two of the world's most renowned non-European literatures. In this book, Jeanne-Marie Jackson demonstrates how Russian writing's “Golden Age” in the troubled nineteenth-century has served as a model for South African writers both during and after apartheid. Exploring these two isolated literary cultures alongside each other, the book challenges the limits of "global" methodologies in contemporary literary studies and outdated models of center-periphery relations to argue for a more locally involved scale of literary enquiry with more truly global horizons.

Solzhenitsyn and American Culture

Author : David P. Deavel
Publisher : University of Notre Dame Pess
ISBN 13 : 0268108277
Total Pages : 461 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (681 download)

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Book Synopsis Solzhenitsyn and American Culture by : David P. Deavel

Download or read book Solzhenitsyn and American Culture written by David P. Deavel and published by University of Notre Dame Pess. This book was released on 2020-10-31 with total page 461 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: These essays will interest readers familiar with the work of Nobel Prize–winner Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and are a great starting point for those eager for an introduction to the great Russian’s work. When people think of Russia today, they tend to gravitate toward images of Soviet domination or, more recently, Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine. The reality, however, is that, despite Russia’s political failures, its rich history of culture, religion, and philosophical reflection—even during the darkest days of the Gulag—have been a deposit of wisdom for American artists, religious thinkers, and political philosophers probing what it means to be human in America. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn stands out as the key figure in this conversation, as both a Russian literary giant and an exile from Russia living in America for two decades. This anthology reconsiders Solzhenitsyn’s work from a variety of perspectives—his faith, his politics, and the influences and context of his literature—to provide a prophetic vision for our current national confusion over universal ideals. In Solzhenitsyn and American Culture: The Russian Soul in the West, David P. Deavel and Jessica Hooten Wilson have collected essays from the foremost scholars and thinkers of comparative studies who have been tracking what Americans have borrowed and learned from Solzhenitsyn and his fellow Russians. The book offers a consideration of what we have in common—the truth, goodness, and beauty America has drawn from Russian culture and from masters such as Solzhenitsyn—and will suggest to readers what we can still learn and what we must preserve. The last section expands the book's theme and reach by examining the impact of other notable Russian authors, including Pushkin, Dostoevsky, and Gogol. Contributors: David P. Deavel, Jessica Hooten Wilson, Nathan Nielson, Eugene Vodolazkin, David Walsh, Matthew Lee Miller, Ralph C. Wood, Gary Saul Morson, Edward E. Ericson, Jr., Micah Mattix, Joseph Pearce, James F. Pontuso, Daniel J. Mahoney, William Jason Wallace, Lee Trepanier, Peter Leithart, Dale Peterson, Julianna Leachman, Walter G. Moss, and Jacob Howland.

A Window to the Russian Soul

Author : Nicholas Kotar
Publisher : Waystone Press
ISBN 13 : 1951536053
Total Pages : 129 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (515 download)

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Book Synopsis A Window to the Russian Soul by : Nicholas Kotar

Download or read book A Window to the Russian Soul written by Nicholas Kotar and published by Waystone Press. This book was released on 2020-02-24 with total page 129 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What if you could find all the answers to the problems of modern life in the wisdom of the past? We live in a strange time. Perpetually distracted and increasingly over-medicated, we still think we are in the most progressed people in history. But scratch the surface, and you’ll see that our world is like a house built on sand. We put much of our faith in science, even as more and more of the truths we equate with “scientific fact” come under scrutiny. The lack of repeatability of many experiments is a modern science’s dirty little secret. And much of what can be verified, it turns out, often merely confirms what history, literature, and religion have already taught us. And so, many people are turning to the past for comforting wisdom to inform the future. This book is an exploration of the rich folk culture of Russia’s past. From songs of lamentation at funerals to the rules for naming a prince, you’ll find a fascinating glimpse into a world that is alien on the surface, but familiar at its heart. Reading it in light of modern life, you can’t help but be astounded at how much wisdom the Russian folk gathered through centuries and millennia of passed time and experience. Who knows? Maybe the answers to some of your life’s pressing issues are found in the age-long traditions explored in A Window to the Russian Soul. Find out by buying A Window to the Russian Soul today!

In Putin's Footsteps

Author : Nina Khrushcheva
Publisher : St. Martin's Press
ISBN 13 : 1250163242
Total Pages : 320 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (51 download)

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Book Synopsis In Putin's Footsteps by : Nina Khrushcheva

Download or read book In Putin's Footsteps written by Nina Khrushcheva and published by St. Martin's Press. This book was released on 2019-02-19 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Putin’s Footsteps is Nina Khrushcheva and Jeffrey Tayler’s unique combination of travelogue, current affairs, and history, showing how Russia’s dimensions have shaped its identity and culture through the decades. With exclusive insider status as Nikita Khrushchev’s great grand-daughter, and an ex-pat living and reporting on Russia and the Soviet Union since 1993, Nina Khrushcheva and Jeffrey Tayler offer a poignant exploration of the largest country on earth through their recreation of Vladimir Putin’s fabled New Year’s Eve speech planned across all eleven time zones. After taking over from Yeltsin in 1999, and then being elected president in a landslide, Putin traveled to almost two dozen countries and a quarter of Russia’s eighty-nine regions to connect with ordinary Russians. His travels inspired the idea of a rousing New Year’s Eve address delivered every hour at midnight throughout Russia’s eleven time zones. The idea was beautiful, but quickly abandoned as an impossible feat. He correctly intuited, however, that the success of his presidency would rest on how the country’s outback citizens viewed their place on the world stage. Today more than ever, Putin is even more determined to present Russia as a formidable nation. We need to understand why Russia has for centuries been an adversary of the West. Its size, nuclear arsenal, arms industry, and scientific community (including cyber-experts), guarantees its influence.

Natasha's Dance

Author : Orlando Figes
Publisher : Metropolitan Books
ISBN 13 : 1466862890
Total Pages : 544 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (668 download)

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Book Synopsis Natasha's Dance by : Orlando Figes

Download or read book Natasha's Dance written by Orlando Figes and published by Metropolitan Books. This book was released on 2014-02-11 with total page 544 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: History on a grand scale--an enchanting masterpiece that explores the making of one of the world's most vibrant civilizations A People's Tragedy, wrote Eric Hobsbawm, did "more to help us understand the Russian Revolution than any other book I know." Now, in Natasha's Dance, internationally renowned historian Orlando Figes does the same for Russian culture, summoning the myriad elements that formed a nation and held it together. Beginning in the eighteenth century with the building of St. Petersburg--a "window on the West"--and culminating with the challenges posed to Russian identity by the Soviet regime, Figes examines how writers, artists, and musicians grappled with the idea of Russia itself--its character, spiritual essence, and destiny. He skillfully interweaves the great works--by Dostoevsky, Stravinsky, and Chagall--with folk embroidery, peasant songs, religious icons, and all the customs of daily life, from food and drink to bathing habits to beliefs about the spirit world. Figes's characters range high and low: the revered Tolstoy, who left his deathbed to search for the Kingdom of God, as well as the serf girl Praskovya, who became Russian opera's first superstar and shocked society by becoming her owner's wife. Like the European-schooled countess Natasha performing an impromptu folk dance in Tolstoy's War and Peace, the spirit of "Russianness" is revealed by Figes as rich and uplifting, complex and contradictory--a powerful force that unified a vast country and proved more lasting than any Russian ruler or state.

Soul

Author : Andrey Platonov
Publisher : New York Review of Books
ISBN 13 : 9781590172544
Total Pages : 404 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (725 download)

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Book Synopsis Soul by : Andrey Platonov

Download or read book Soul written by Andrey Platonov and published by New York Review of Books. This book was released on 2007-12-04 with total page 404 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A New York Review Books Original The Soviet writer Andrey Platonov saw much of his work suppressed or censored in his lifetime. In recent decades, however, these lost works have reemerged, and the eerie poetry and poignant humanity of Platonov’s vision have become ever more clear. For Nadezhda Mandelstam and Joseph Brodsky, Platonov was the writer who most profoundly registered the spiritual shock of revolution. For a new generation of innovative post-Soviet Russian writers he figures as a daring explorer of word and world, the master of what has been called “alternative realism.” Depicting a devastated world that is both terrifying and sublime, Platonov is, without doubt, a universal writer who is as solitary and haunting as Kafka. This volume gathers eight works that show Platonov at his tenderest, warmest, and subtlest. Among them are “The Return,” about an officer’s difficult homecoming at the end of World War II, described by Penelope Fitzgerald as one of “three great works of Russian literature of the millennium”; “The River Potudan,” a moving account of a troubled marriage; and the title novella, the extraordinary tale of a young man unexpectedly transformed by his return to his Asian birthplace, where he finds his people deprived not only of food and dwelling, but of memory and speech. This prizewinning English translation is the first to be based on the newly available uncensored texts of Platonov’s short fiction.

And Now My Soul Is Hardened

Author : Alan M. Ball
Publisher : Univ of California Press
ISBN 13 : 0520206940
Total Pages : 395 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (22 download)

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Book Synopsis And Now My Soul Is Hardened by : Alan M. Ball

Download or read book And Now My Soul Is Hardened written by Alan M. Ball and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 1996-11-06 with total page 395 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Warfare, epidemics, and famine left millions of Soviet children homeless during the 1920s. Many became beggars, prostitutes, and thieves, and were denizens of both secluded underworld haunts and bustling train stations. Alan Ball's study of these abandoned children examines their lives and the strategies the government used to remove them from the streets lest they threaten plans to mold a new socialist generation. The "rehabilitation" of these youths and the results years later are an important lesson in Soviet history.

Bounded Mind and Soul

Author : Brian Horowitz
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9780893573904
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (739 download)

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Book Synopsis Bounded Mind and Soul by : Brian Horowitz

Download or read book Bounded Mind and Soul written by Brian Horowitz and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "In Bounded Mind and Soul, twelve leading scholars grapple with questions about the complex relationship between Israel and Russia. What are their mutual interests? What are the areas of conflict? And how has the immigration of more than one million Jews from the former Soviet Union affected Israeli culture, society, and politics? These essays range from studies of literature and intellectual history to in-depth examinations of the treatment of Jewish dissidents in Soviet times and new immigrants in Israel. The collection provides unexpected answers to the questions: what is the extent of Russia in Israel and Israel in Russia?"--Mitchell Bard.

The Pilgrim Soul

Author : Elana Gomel
Publisher : Cambria Press
ISBN 13 : 1604975989
Total Pages : 226 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (49 download)

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Book Synopsis The Pilgrim Soul by : Elana Gomel

Download or read book The Pilgrim Soul written by Elana Gomel and published by Cambria Press. This book was released on 2009 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the most astounding aftershocks of the collapse of the Soviet Union was the massive immigration of Russian Jews to Israel. Today, Russian speakers constitute one-sixth of Israel's total population. No other country in the world has absorbed such a prodigious number of immigrants in such a short period. The implications of this phenomenon are immense both locally (given the geopolitical situation in the Middle East) and globally (as multicultural and multiethnic states become the rule rather than the exception). For a growing number of immigrants worldwide, the experience of living across different cultures, speaking different languages, and accommodating different--and often incompatible--identities is a daily reality. This reality is a challenge to the scholar striving to understand the origin and nature of cultural identity. Languages can be learned, economic constraints overcome, social mores assimilated. But identity persists through generations, setting immigrants and their children apart from their adoptive country. The story of the former Russians in Israel is an illuminating example of this global trend. The Russian Jews who came to Israel were initially welcomed as prodigal sons coming home. Their connection to their "historical motherland" was seemingly cemented not only by their Jewish ethnicity, but also by a potent Russian influence upon Zionism. The first Zionist settlers in Palestine were mostly from Russia and Poland, and Russian literature, music, and sensibility had had a profound effect upon the emerging Hebrew culture. Thus, it seemed that while facing the usual economic challenges of immigrations, the "Russians," as they came to be known, would have little problem acclimatizing in Israel. The reality has been quite different, marked by mutual incomprehension and cultural mistranslation. While achieving a prominent place in Israeli economy, the Russians in Israel have faced discrimination and stereotyping. And their own response to Israeli culture and society has largely been one of rejection and disdain. If Israel has failed to integrate the newcomers, the newcomers have shown little interest in being integrated. Thus, the story of the post-Soviet Jews in Israel illustrates a general phenomenon of cultural divergence, in which history carves different identities out of common stock. Besides marking a turning point in the development of Israel, it belongs to the larger picture of the contemporary world, profoundly marked by the collapse of the catastrophic utopias of Nazism and Communism. And yet this story has not adequately been dealt with by the academy. There have been relatively few studies of the Russian immigration to Israel and none that situates the phenomenon in a cultural, rather than purely sociological, context. Elana Gomel's book, The Pilgrim Soul: Being Russian in Israel, is an original and exciting investigation of the Russian community in Israel. It analyzes the narratives through which Russian Jewry defines itself and connects them to the legacy of Soviet history. It engages with such key elements of the Russian-Israeli identity as the aversion from organized religion, the challenge of bilingualism, the cult of romantic passion, and even the singular fondness for science fiction. It provides factual information on the social, economic, and political situation of the Russians in Israel but relates the data to an overall interpretation of the community's cultural history. At the same time, the book goes beyond the specificity of its subject by focusing on the theoretical issues of identity formation, historical trauma, and utopian disillusionment. The Pilgrim Soul is an important book for all collections in cultural studies, ethnic and immigrant studies, Israeli studies, and Soviet studies. It will appeal to a variety of readers interested in the issues of immigration, multiculturalism, and identity formation.

In Search of the Free Individual

Author : Svetlana Alexievich
Publisher : Cornell University Press
ISBN 13 : 1501726927
Total Pages : 40 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (17 download)

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Book Synopsis In Search of the Free Individual by : Svetlana Alexievich

Download or read book In Search of the Free Individual written by Svetlana Alexievich and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2018-01-15 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "I love life in its living form, life that’s found on the street, in human conversations, shouts, and moans." So begins this speech delivered in Russian at Cornell University by Svetlana Alexievich, winner of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Literature. In poetic language, Alexievich traces the origins of her deeply affecting blend of journalism, oral history, and creative writing. Cornell Global Perspectives is an imprint of Cornell University’s Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies. The works examine critical global challenges, often from an interdisciplinary perspective, and are intended for a non-specialist audience. The Distinguished Speaker Series presents edited transcripts of talks delivered at Cornell, both in the original language and in translation.

Siberian Odyssey

Author : Frederick Kempe
Publisher : Putnam Publishing Group
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 336 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)

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Book Synopsis Siberian Odyssey by : Frederick Kempe

Download or read book Siberian Odyssey written by Frederick Kempe and published by Putnam Publishing Group. This book was released on 1992 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the Berlin Bureau Chief of The Wall Street Journal--author of Divorcing the Dictator--comes a dramatic account of an expedition to an almost mythical place, the land of Russia's grandest dreams and cruelest nightmares. In a place where contradictions arise at ever turn, Kempe found not only an adventure but an unparalleled window into the Russian soul. 8 pages of photographs.

For the Soul of Mankind

Author : Melvyn P. Leffler
Publisher : Hill and Wang
ISBN 13 : 142996409X
Total Pages : 1029 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (299 download)

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Book Synopsis For the Soul of Mankind by : Melvyn P. Leffler

Download or read book For the Soul of Mankind written by Melvyn P. Leffler and published by Hill and Wang. This book was released on 2008-09-02 with total page 1029 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: To the amazement of the public, pundits, and even the policymakers themselves, the ideological and political conflict that had endangered the world for half a century came to an end in 1990. How did that happen? What caused the cold war in the first place, and why did it last as long as it did? The distinguished historian Melvyn P. Leffler homes in on four crucial episodes when American and Soviet leaders considered modulating, avoiding, or ending hostilities and asks why they failed: Stalin and Truman devising new policies after 1945; Malenkov and Eisenhower exploring the chance for peace after Stalin's death in 1953; Kennedy, Khrushchev, and LBJ trying to reduce tensions after the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962; and Brezhnev and Carter aiming to sustain détente after the Helsinki Conference of 1975. All these leaders glimpsed possibilities for peace, yet they allowed ideologies, political pressures, the expectations of allies and clients, the dynamics of the international system, and their own fearful memories to trap them in a cycle of hostility that seemed to have no end. For the Soul of Mankind illuminates how Reagan, Bush, and, above all, Gorbachev finally extricated themselves from the policies and mind-sets that had imprisoned their predecessors, and were able to reconfigure Soviet-American relations after decades of confrontation.