R. W. Davies - Böcker

Nerve cells - neurons - are arguably the most complex of all cells. From the action of these cells comes movement, thought and consciousness. It is a challenging task to understand what molecules direct the various diverse aspects of their function. This has produced an ever-increasing amount of molecular information about neurons, and only in Molecular Biology of the Neuron can a large part of this information be found in one source. In this book, a non-specialist can learn about the molecules that control information flow in the brain or the progress of brain disease in an approachable format, while the expert has access to a wealth of detailed information from a wide range of topics impacting on his or her field of endeavour. The text is designed to achieve a balance of accessibility and broad coverage with up-to-date molecular detail. In the six years since the first edition of Molecular Biology of the Neuron there has been an explosion in the molecular information about neurons that has been discovered, and this information is incorporated into this second edition. Entirely new chapters have been introduced where recent advances have made a new aspect of neuronal function more comprehensible at the molecular level. Written by leading researchers in the field, the book provides an essential overview of the molecular structure and function of neurons, and will be an invaluable tool to students and researchers alike.

From 1931 to 1936, Stalin vacationed at his Black Sea residence for two to three months each year. While away from Moscow, he relied on correspondence with his subordinates to receive information, watch over the work of the Politburo and the government, give orders, and express his opinions. This book publishes for the first time translations of 177 handwritten letters and coded telegrams exchanged during this period between Stalin and his most highly trusted deputy, Lazar Kaganovich. The unique and revealing collection of letters—all previously classified top secret—provides a dramatic account of the mainsprings of Soviet policy while Stalin was consolidating his position as personal dictator. The correspondence records his positions on major internal and foreign affairs decisions and reveals his opinions about fellow members of the Politburo and other senior figures. Written during the years of agricultural collectivization, forced industrialization, famine, repression, and Soviet rearmament in the face of threats from Germany and Japan, these letters constitute an unsurpassed historical resource for all students of the Stalin regime and Soviet history.

By the summer of 1929 Soviet industrialisation was well under way, but agriculture was in a profound crisis: in 1928 and 1929 grain to feed the towns was wrested from the peasants by force, and the twenty-five million individual peasant households lost the stimulus to extend or even to maintain their production. In the autumn of 1929 the Soviet Politburo, led by Stalin, launched its desperate effort to win the battle for agriculture by forcible collectivisation and by large-scale mechanisation. Simultaneously hundreds of thousands of kulaks (richer peasants) and recalcitrant peasants were expelled from their villages. This book tells the story of these events, as momentous in their impact on Russian history at the Bolshevik Revolution of October 1917, and of the temporary retreat from collectivisation in the spring of 1930 in the face of peasant resistance. The crisis in the Communist Party which resulted from this upheaval, in the months preceding the XVI party congress in June 1930, is described in detail for the first time.

During the events described in The Socialist Offensive the collective farms achieved a commanding position in the Soviet countryside. The emergence of the collective farm in 1929-30, discussed in the present volume, was a crucial stage in the formation of the Soviet system.

Planned as a number of independent volumes this work covers the years 1929-1937, the crucial period of the first two five-year plans, which saw the transformation of the Soviet Union from a peasant country into an industrial power. An examination of Soviet industrialization is seen as important in increasing an understanding of why the Soviet system took its present form; and as a case study of state-managed industrialization, should illuminate the economic problems of developing countries and questions of state planning generally. This book, the third part of the trilogy, re-examines the breakdown of the Soviet socialist market economy at the end of the 1920s and assesses its replacement by Stalinist centralized planning. The author explains how in those days of heroism and enthusiasm, hunger and repression, crucial Soviet economic and political institutions were established and are only now being effectively challenged by Gorbachev's revolution. While complementing the previous two volumes of this author's work this book is designed to be read independently. It sheds new light on a dramatic moment in Soviet history and in the formation of the Soviet system, by drawing on Soviet a

The profound economic crisis of 1931-33 undermined the process of industrialisation and the stability of the regime. In spite of feverish efforts to achieve the over ambitious first five-year plan, the great industrial projects lagged far behind schedule. These were years of inflation, economic disorder and of terrible famine in 1933. In response to the crisis, policies and systems changed significantly. Greater realism prevailed: more moderate plans, reduced investment, strict monetary controls, and more emphasis on economic incentives and the role of the market. The reforms failed to prevent the terrible famine of 1933, in which millions of peasants died. But the last months of 1933 saw the first signs of an industrial boom, the outcome of the huge investments of previous years. Using the previously secret archives of the Politburo and the Council of People's Commissars, the author shows how during these formative years the economic system acquired the shape which it retained until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Reviews of previous volumes:; The Soviet Economy in Turmoil will be read avidly by all specialists on the Soviet economy; it should also be consulted by anyone

Since Gorbachev took office in 1985, every aspect of the Soviet past has been under scrutiny. Tens of millions of Soviet citizens are eagerly absorbing and debating the vast outpouring of novels, books and articles, and films and TV programmes, about their past. Much new information has appeared, often sensational, about how the Stalin regime worked and what it meant for top politicians, generals, intellectuals and ordinary citizens. Stalinists, Russian nationalists, democratic socialists and others are locked in bitter debate. Was the victory of Stalinism inevitable? Was there an alternative road to socialism? Even Lenin and his policies are now questioned. The Politburo itself is deeply divided about how far the debate should go and what conclusions should be drawn from it. The reconsideration about the past is part of the discussion about the way forward for Soviet society: how big should be the role of the market? How much freedom and democracy?

The author of the acclaimed Soviet History in the Gorbachev Revolution now examines the impact of the collapse of Communism and of the subsequent disillusionment with capitalism on Soviet history. Part two evaluates the unfinished revolution which has partly opened the archives, while part three offers reflections on the future of the Soviet past.

E.H. Carr (1892-1982) is an acknowledged authority on Soviet Russia. In "The Russian Revolution from Lenin to Stalin", he provides the student and general reader alike with insights and knowledge of a lifetime's work. This short history of the Russian Revolution is now available in a new edition, with a new introduction by R.W. Davies.

This book contains a full translation of a major but little-known Soviet work on Soviet national income accounts for a crucial stage in the social and economic transformation of the Soviet economy from 1928 to 1930. These were years of mass collectivisation and the launching of the Soviet industrialisation drive. The USSR was perhaps unique in having a well-developed statistical service able to record the detailed changes in economic relationships that were taking place at this time. The translation is accompanied by three introductory articles which explain the structure and contents of these materials, what new light these materials throw on the development of the Soviet economy in this period and describe the significance of these materials for the history of Soviet statistics and planning. Amongst other questions this evidence casts some doubt on recent attempts to show that Soviet industrialisation resulted in a change in the net flow of goods between industry and agriculture, in favour of agriculture. It also shows that considerable attempts were made by some influential statisticians and planners in the early 1930s to analyse the relationship between different branches and sectors of the economy. In a foreword Professor Sir Richard Stone sets the achievement of the construction of these materials in the context of the history of Western works on national income accounts.

This book is an ideal text for students studying a key period of Soviet economic history. It brings together and makes available in textbook form the results of the latest research on Soviet industrialisation, using a vast amount of primary evidence, and the methods of quantitative economic analysis. Leading scholars in the field analyse the Soviet economy sector by sector, from agriculture to defence and technology, and look at the key indicators of economic health over the period: employment, national income, exports, and population trends. The book concludes with two chapters comparing the Russian economy at war under tsarism and communism.

This book is an ideal text for students studying a key period of Soviet economic history. It brings together and makes available in textbook form the results of the latest research on Soviet industrialisation, using a vast amount of primary evidence, and the methods of quantitative economic analysis. Leading scholars in the field analyse the Soviet economy sector by sector, from agriculture to defence and technology, and look at the key indicators of economic health over the period: employment, national income, exports, and population trends. The book concludes with two chapters comparing the Russian economy at war under tsarism and communism.

This book provides a comprehensive survey of Soviet economic development from 1917 to 1965 in the context of the pre-revolutionary economy. In these years the Soviet Union negotiated the first stages of modern industrialisation and then, after the defeat of Nazi Germany and its allies, emerged as one of the two world superpowers. This was also the first attempt to construct a planned socialist order. These developments resulted in great economic achievements at great human cost. Using the results of recent Russian and Western research, Professor Davies discusses the inherent faults and strengths of the system, and pays particular attention to the major controversies. Was the Russian Revolution doomed to failure from the outset? Could the mixed economy of the 1920s have led to a democratic socialist economy? What was the influence of Soviet economic development on the rest of the world?

This book provides a comprehensive survey of Soviet economic development from 1917 to 1965 in the context of the pre-revolutionary economy. In these years the Soviet Union negotiated the first stages of modern industrialisation and then, after the defeat of Nazi Germany and its allies, emerged as one of the two world superpowers. This was also the first attempt to construct a planned socialist order. These developments resulted in great economic achievements at great human cost. Using the results of recent Russian and Western research, Professor Davies discusses the inherent faults and strengths of the system, and pays particular attention to the major controversies. Was the Russian Revolution doomed to failure from the outset? Could the mixed economy of the 1920s have led to a democratic socialist economy? What was the influence of Soviet economic development on the rest of the world?