Matthias Neumann is Lecturer in Modern European History at the University of East Anglia, UK.

'The work is thorough and well researched. A reader seeking an introductory comprehensive overview to the Komsomol would do well to begin here.' – William B. Husband, Oregon State University; Slavic Review, vol. 72, no. 1 (Spring 2013).'Neumann has written a compelling work highlighting the agency of the Komsomol’s base in defeating the NEP. Paradoxically, this fine work suggests the need for greater detail in our understanding of the collapse of the NEP networks and the dynamics of the top and middle leadership. This will require scholars to go beyond the archives of the Komsomol Central Committee. For now, Matthias Neumann has written the new standard history of the early Komsomol.' – Isabel Tirado, William Paterson University; The Russian Review, vol. 72, no. 2, (April 2013), 336-337.'Matthias Neumann’s book offers a new and very detailed social history of the Soviet Communist League (Komsomol) since its beginnings in 1917 to its incorporation into the Soviet political machine in 1932. Based on serious study of archival documents, contemporary periodicals and memoirs, the book traces the transformation of the revolutionary group of rebellious youth into a bureaucratic organization of the Stalinist political regime under the total control of the Communist party apparatus. Neumann, who grew up in the 1980s in the city of Cottbus in Communist East Germany, brings a personal touch to his account, making it compelling and attractive even to ‘Cold War biased’ readers' – Sergei I. Zhuk, Department of History, Ball State University, USA; SEER, vol. 92, no.2, (April 2014).

• Part I - Revolution and Civil War 1. The Birth of the Russian Youth Movement 2. Revolution as Revelation: The First Red Dawn 3. Birth in the Civil War: The Struggle for an Identity Part II- The New Economic Policy 4. The Komsomol and the Policy of Class 5. Revolutionising Mind and Soul 6. A Living Organisation Part III - The Socialist Offensive 7. The Komsomol as an Object of Class War 8. The Komsomol as an Agent of Class War: The Second Red Dawn 9. Lost Identity – A Static Organisation Emerges Conclusions: Between Rebellion and Revolution – Youth as a Force of Change

Matthias Neumann is Lecturer in Modern European History at the University of East Anglia, UK.

'The work is thorough and well researched. A reader seeking an introductory comprehensive overview to the Komsomol would do well to begin here.' – William B. Husband, Oregon State University; Slavic Review, vol. 72, no. 1 (Spring 2013).'Neumann has written a compelling work highlighting the agency of the Komsomol’s base in defeating the NEP. Paradoxically, this fine work suggests the need for greater detail in our understanding of the collapse of the NEP networks and the dynamics of the top and middle leadership. This will require scholars to go beyond the archives of the Komsomol Central Committee. For now, Matthias Neumann has written the new standard history of the early Komsomol.' – Isabel Tirado, William Paterson University; The Russian Review, vol. 72, no. 2, (April 2013), 336-337.'Matthias Neumann’s book offers a new and very detailed social history of the Soviet Communist League (Komsomol) since its beginnings in 1917 to its incorporation into the Soviet political machine in 1932. Based on serious study of archival documents, contemporary periodicals and memoirs, the book traces the transformation of the revolutionary group of rebellious youth into a bureaucratic organization of the Stalinist political regime under the total control of the Communist party apparatus. Neumann, who grew up in the 1980s in the city of Cottbus in Communist East Germany, brings a personal touch to his account, making it compelling and attractive even to ‘Cold War biased’ readers' – Sergei I. Zhuk, Department of History, Ball State University, USA; SEER, vol. 92, no.2, (April 2014).

• Part I - Revolution and Civil War 1. The Birth of the Russian Youth Movement 2. Revolution as Revelation: The First Red Dawn 3. Birth in the Civil War: The Struggle for an Identity Part II- The New Economic Policy 4. The Komsomol and the Policy of Class 5. Revolutionising Mind and Soul 6. A Living Organisation Part III - The Socialist Offensive 7. The Komsomol as an Object of Class War 8. The Komsomol as an Agent of Class War: The Second Red Dawn 9. Lost Identity – A Static Organisation Emerges Conclusions: Between Rebellion and Revolution – Youth as a Force of Change

Matthias Neumann is Lecturer in Modern European History at the University of East Anglia, UK.

'The work is thorough and well researched. A reader seeking an introductory comprehensive overview to the Komsomol would do well to begin here.' – William B. Husband, Oregon State University; Slavic Review, vol. 72, no. 1 (Spring 2013).'Neumann has written a compelling work highlighting the agency of the Komsomol’s base in defeating the NEP. Paradoxically, this fine work suggests the need for greater detail in our understanding of the collapse of the NEP networks and the dynamics of the top and middle leadership. This will require scholars to go beyond the archives of the Komsomol Central Committee. For now, Matthias Neumann has written the new standard history of the early Komsomol.' – Isabel Tirado, William Paterson University; The Russian Review, vol. 72, no. 2, (April 2013), 336-337.'Matthias Neumann’s book offers a new and very detailed social history of the Soviet Communist League (Komsomol) since its beginnings in 1917 to its incorporation into the Soviet political machine in 1932. Based on serious study of archival documents, contemporary periodicals and memoirs, the book traces the transformation of the revolutionary group of rebellious youth into a bureaucratic organization of the Stalinist political regime under the total control of the Communist party apparatus. Neumann, who grew up in the 1980s in the city of Cottbus in Communist East Germany, brings a personal touch to his account, making it compelling and attractive even to ‘Cold War biased’ readers' – Sergei I. Zhuk, Department of History, Ball State University, USA; SEER, vol. 92, no.2, (April 2014).

• Part I - Revolution and Civil War 1. The Birth of the Russian Youth Movement 2. Revolution as Revelation: The First Red Dawn 3. Birth in the Civil War: The Struggle for an Identity Part II- The New Economic Policy 4. The Komsomol and the Policy of Class 5. Revolutionising Mind and Soul 6. A Living Organisation Part III - The Socialist Offensive 7. The Komsomol as an Object of Class War 8. The Komsomol as an Agent of Class War: The Second Red Dawn 9. Lost Identity – A Static Organisation Emerges Conclusions: Between Rebellion and Revolution – Youth as a Force of Change