The Soviet Union Book

I would say that this is a very underrated book based on the lack of reviews and/or details held within. It's an excellent read for those who are curious about what life was actually like in the Soviet Union in the late 1980s, as well as many of the problems therein (and a few high points). For those who grew up with anti-Soviet American propaganda, this should be a bit of an eye-opener, as many things claimed as fact by the U.S.A. were just not true.

It also helps to show how a people without a tradition of liberation and civil rights can so easily accept totalitarianism as "just the way things are."

As a collectivist myself, it was interesting to see how those in power can easily manipulate the group to push it in ways that it should not be going. Democratic Centralism is no way to run a government.