R. W. Davies is Emeritus Professor of Soviet Economic Studies, Centre for Russian and East European Studies, University of Birmingham, UK – of which he was the foundation director. He is the author of many books and articles on Soviet history, including Soviet Economic Development from Lenin to Khruschev, Soviet History in the Gorbachev Revolution, and the previous five volumes in this series. Oleg V. Khlevniuk is Senior Research Fellow at State Archive of the Russian Federation, and Leading Research Fellow at the International Center for the History and Sociology of World War II and its Consequences at the National Research University Higher School of Economics. He is the author of The History of the GULAG: From Collectivization to the Great Terror (2004), and Master of the House: Stalin and His Inner Circle (2008). Stephen Wheatcroft is Professor in Soviet History at Nazarbayev University, Republic of Kazakhstan,and a specialist on Soviet agriculture and population. He is the editor of Challenging Traditional Views of Russian History (2002) and joint author with R. W. Davies of The Years of Hunger.

"Davies gives us a fine-grained analysis of investment and outcomes throughout the economy, as well as many new details about how plans were debated and revised. ... anyone interested in specific sectors or episodes in the economic development of the mid-1930s should consult this encyclopedic work." (Julie Hessler, Slavic Review, Vol. 75 (1), Spring, 2016) "The text is well structured, chronologically coherent and features a set of subchapters covering a variety of different issues from finances, industry and agriculture to the defence sector, etc. ... this monograph offers a deep insight into three years of Soviet economic development and is recommended for libraries and specialists." (Olaf Mertelsmann, Europe-Asia Studies, Vol. 68 (3), May, 2016) "The Years of Progress: The Soviet Economy, 1934-1936 covers in detail the advance of industry, capital investment, domestic and foreign trade, and the upgrading of Soviet economic infrastructure. ... The book has a well-organized structure and a straightforward chronological layout that makes reading this exhaustive study fascinating ... . This significantly adds to our understanding of how multifaceted and complex the decision-making processes actually were ... ." (Lennart Samuelson, ahr.oxfordjournals.org, February, 2016)

• 1. The XVII Party Congress and the Second Five-Year Plan 2. 1934: A Year of Relaxation: The Political Background 3. The Economy in 1934 4 1935: The Growing Threat of War 5. The 1935 Plan and the Abolition Of Bread Rationing 6. 'Continuous Advance': January-September 1935 7. 'Advancing To Abundance', September – December 1935 8. 1935 In Retrospect 9. The Ambitious 1936 Plan 10. The Political Context of Economic Change, 1936 11. 1936: 'The Stakhanovite Year' 12. The Successful Outcome Of 1936 Conclusions

R. W. Davies is Emeritus Professor of Soviet Economic Studies, Centre for Russian and East European Studies, University of Birmingham, UK – of which he was the foundation director. He is the author of many books and articles on Soviet history, including Soviet Economic Development from Lenin to Khruschev, Soviet History in the Gorbachev Revolution, and the previous five volumes in this series. Oleg V. Khlevniuk is Senior Research Fellow at State Archive of the Russian Federation, and Leading Research Fellow at the International Center for the History and Sociology of World War II and its Consequences at the National Research University Higher School of Economics. He is the author of The History of the GULAG: From Collectivization to the Great Terror (2004), and Master of the House: Stalin and His Inner Circle (2008). Stephen Wheatcroft is Professor in Soviet History at Nazarbayev University, Republic of Kazakhstan,and a specialist on Soviet agriculture and population. He is the editor of Challenging Traditional Views of Russian History (2002) and joint author with R. W. Davies of The Years of Hunger.

"Davies gives us a fine-grained analysis of investment and outcomes throughout the economy, as well as many new details about how plans were debated and revised. ... anyone interested in specific sectors or episodes in the economic development of the mid-1930s should consult this encyclopedic work." (Julie Hessler, Slavic Review, Vol. 75 (1), Spring, 2016) "The text is well structured, chronologically coherent and features a set of subchapters covering a variety of different issues from finances, industry and agriculture to the defence sector, etc. ... this monograph offers a deep insight into three years of Soviet economic development and is recommended for libraries and specialists." (Olaf Mertelsmann, Europe-Asia Studies, Vol. 68 (3), May, 2016) "The Years of Progress: The Soviet Economy, 1934-1936 covers in detail the advance of industry, capital investment, domestic and foreign trade, and the upgrading of Soviet economic infrastructure. ... The book has a well-organized structure and a straightforward chronological layout that makes reading this exhaustive study fascinating ... . This significantly adds to our understanding of how multifaceted and complex the decision-making processes actually were ... ." (Lennart Samuelson, ahr.oxfordjournals.org, February, 2016)

• 1. The XVII Party Congress and the Second Five-Year Plan 2. 1934: A Year of Relaxation: The Political Background 3. The Economy in 1934 4 1935: The Growing Threat of War 5. The 1935 Plan and the Abolition Of Bread Rationing 6. 'Continuous Advance': January-September 1935 7. 'Advancing To Abundance', September – December 1935 8. 1935 In Retrospect 9. The Ambitious 1936 Plan 10. The Political Context of Economic Change, 1936 11. 1936: 'The Stakhanovite Year' 12. The Successful Outcome Of 1936 Conclusions