Includes bibliographical references (pages 252-259) and index.
Introduction: Revolutionary identity -- 1. Extracting socially alien elements -- 2. The culture of the new elite, 1921-5: ascetic knights and drinking pals -- 3. Bolshevik actions and peasants' reactions, 1921-5: face the village, face defeat -- 4. Propaganda and popular belief -- 5. The Komsomol and youth: a transmission belt that snapped -- 6. Women: false promises, dashed hopes and the pretense of emancipation -- 7. Towards showdown in the countryside, 1926-8 -- 8. The proletariat against the vanguard -- 9. The Bolshevik old guard and the upstarts, 1924-9: down and out and up and coming -- 10. Conclusion.
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By examining the contrast between Bolshevik propaganda claims and social reality, Brovkin explains how Communist representations were variously received and resisted by workers, peasants, students, women, teachers and party officials. He presents a picture of cultural diversity and rejection of Communist constraints through many means including unauthorized protest, religion, jazz music and poetry. Brovkin argues that these trends endangered the Communist Party's monopoly on political power and argues that the Stalinist revolution can be seen as a preemptive strike against this independent and.