David Brandenberger is professor of history at the University of Richmond.

"The fact that Stalin temporarily set aside execution lists to edit a textbook illustrates the importance he attached to the writing of history. Thanks to this critical edition, expertly compiled by David Brandenberger, we can now see Stalin's personal interventions in what would become the country's official history textbook until his death."—David L. Hoffmann, author of The Stalinist Era "In the Stalinist USSR of the 1930s, the dictator decided that the country needed a new, multinational, Marxist history to inspire the people and legitimize his regime. David Brandenberger's magisterial work demonstrates how writing about the past became a battlefield between official versions of the national myth."—Ronald Grigor Suny, author of Stalin: Passage to Revolution

• List of IllustrationsList of MapsAcknowledgmentsA Note on ConventionsTerms and AcronymsIntroduction to the Critical EditionThe Short History of the USSRIntroductionI. Our Country in the Distant PastII. The Kiev StateIII. Eastern Europe under the Rule of the Mongol ConquerorsIV. The Rise of the Russian National StateV. The Expansion of the Russian StateVI. The Peasant Wars and Revolts of the Oppressed Peoples in the 17th CenturyVII. Russia in the 18th Century. The Empire of Landlords and MerchantsVIII. Tsarist Russia—the Gendarme of EuropeIX. The Growth of Capitalism in Tsarist RussiaX. The First Bourgeois Revolution in RussiaXI. The Second Bourgeois Revolution in RussiaXII. The Great October Socialist Revolution in RussiaXIII. Military Intervention. The Civil WarXIV. The Turn to Peaceful Labour. Economic Restoration of the CountryXV. U.S.S.R. is the Land of Victorious SocialismChronological TableAppendix: Further Revisions to Stalin's Usable Past, 1937–1955NotesIndex

David Brandenberger is professor of history at the University of Richmond.

"The fact that Stalin temporarily set aside execution lists to edit a textbook illustrates the importance he attached to the writing of history. Thanks to this critical edition, expertly compiled by David Brandenberger, we can now see Stalin's personal interventions in what would become the country's official history textbook until his death."—David L. Hoffmann, author of The Stalinist Era "In the Stalinist USSR of the 1930s, the dictator decided that the country needed a new, multinational, Marxist history to inspire the people and legitimize his regime. David Brandenberger's magisterial work demonstrates how writing about the past became a battlefield between official versions of the national myth."—Ronald Grigor Suny, author of Stalin: Passage to Revolution

• List of IllustrationsList of MapsAcknowledgmentsA Note on ConventionsTerms and AcronymsIntroduction to the Critical EditionThe Short History of the USSRIntroductionI. Our Country in the Distant PastII. The Kiev StateIII. Eastern Europe under the Rule of the Mongol ConquerorsIV. The Rise of the Russian National StateV. The Expansion of the Russian StateVI. The Peasant Wars and Revolts of the Oppressed Peoples in the 17th CenturyVII. Russia in the 18th Century. The Empire of Landlords and MerchantsVIII. Tsarist Russia—the Gendarme of EuropeIX. The Growth of Capitalism in Tsarist RussiaX. The First Bourgeois Revolution in RussiaXI. The Second Bourgeois Revolution in RussiaXII. The Great October Socialist Revolution in RussiaXIII. Military Intervention. The Civil WarXIV. The Turn to Peaceful Labour. Economic Restoration of the CountryXV. U.S.S.R. is the Land of Victorious SocialismChronological TableAppendix: Further Revisions to Stalin's Usable Past, 1937–1955NotesIndex

David Brandenberger is professor of history at the University of Richmond.

"The fact that Stalin temporarily set aside execution lists to edit a textbook illustrates the importance he attached to the writing of history. Thanks to this critical edition, expertly compiled by David Brandenberger, we can now see Stalin's personal interventions in what would become the country's official history textbook until his death."—David L. Hoffmann, author of The Stalinist Era "In the Stalinist USSR of the 1930s, the dictator decided that the country needed a new, multinational, Marxist history to inspire the people and legitimize his regime. David Brandenberger's magisterial work demonstrates how writing about the past became a battlefield between official versions of the national myth."—Ronald Grigor Suny, author of Stalin: Passage to Revolution

• List of IllustrationsList of MapsAcknowledgmentsA Note on ConventionsTerms and AcronymsIntroduction to the Critical EditionThe Short History of the USSRIntroductionI. Our Country in the Distant PastII. The Kiev StateIII. Eastern Europe under the Rule of the Mongol ConquerorsIV. The Rise of the Russian National StateV. The Expansion of the Russian StateVI. The Peasant Wars and Revolts of the Oppressed Peoples in the 17th CenturyVII. Russia in the 18th Century. The Empire of Landlords and MerchantsVIII. Tsarist Russia—the Gendarme of EuropeIX. The Growth of Capitalism in Tsarist RussiaX. The First Bourgeois Revolution in RussiaXI. The Second Bourgeois Revolution in RussiaXII. The Great October Socialist Revolution in RussiaXIII. Military Intervention. The Civil WarXIV. The Turn to Peaceful Labour. Economic Restoration of the CountryXV. U.S.S.R. is the Land of Victorious SocialismChronological TableAppendix: Further Revisions to Stalin's Usable Past, 1937–1955NotesIndex