One Step Backwards, Two Steps Forward: Soviet Society and Politics in the New Economic Policy Book

This study of Soviet politics and society under the New Economic Policy is the first to relate local problems directly to changing central ideological views during the crucial early years of the Soviet state. Pethybridge makes an extensive examination of five Russian and minority localities in 1922 near the outset of the NEP, and again at its height in 1926. His analysis indicates that under the early NEP there were two capitals—Moscow for politics and Petrograd for culture. Examining their roles in the workings of the Bolshevik control mechanisms, Pethybridge throws new light on the roles of socio-political agents and potential enemies in Russia's vast hinterland. His carefully researched account of the formative years of the USSR will be invaluable to scholars of Soviet history and government.