Chapter 1 Preface Chapter 2 Introduction: The Land of the Benzine Pegasus Part 3 The Early Soviet Era Chapter 4 Soviet Americanism Chapter 5 Heavenly Miracles Chapter 6 Happy Endings and Jolly Guys Chapter 7 Arch-Bourgeois Machines Chapter 8 Catch and Surpass Part 9 The Contemporary Era Chapter 10 Holy Communion at McDonald's Chapter 11 The American Model Chapter 12 Counter Strike Chapter 13 Conclusion: Gud-Bai Amerika?
Alan M. Ball is associate professor of history at Marquette University and the author of Russia's Last Capitalists: The Nepmen, 1921-1929 and And Now My Soul is Hardened: Abandoned Children in Soviet Russia, 1918-1930.
Highly respected U.S. scholar Ball is mainly concerned with Russian
attitudes and borrowings regarding U.S. technology and culture, but
he also deals with Russian perceptions of the U.S. economic and
political system and of American life in general. His excellent
book is divided into two sections, 'The Early Soviet Period' and
'The Contemporary Era,' but it also briefly touches on the period
between these two eras and flashes back occasionally to
19th-century opinions of the U.S. Ball's analysis is balanced, and
he provides many useful statistics. Recommended. All levels and
libraries.
*CHOICE*
The most important strength of the book is its simultaneous
evaluation of responses from both the masses and the elites to the
American artifacts and techniques. Ball also deserves appreciation
for his examination of everyday media, ranging from movies to
tractors. He has an exceptionally thorough and captivating writing
style that maintains the reader's full attention throughout the
book. All of these aspects render the book extremely interesting
and easily accessible to readers at all levels who will take it up
either for a class or for leisure.
*Burcak Keskin-Kozat, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor*
Engaging.
*The Russian Review*
An imaginative and significant contribution to the history of
modern Russia, Ball's study adeptly synthesizes important currents
in contemporary Russian culture. It should appeal to all readers
who are interested in how Soviet (and post-Soviet) Russians have
grappled with the challenges imposed by modernity while attempting
to maintain a national identity of their own.
*Scott W. Palmer, Western Illinois University*
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