{"product_id":"the-soviet-union-by-time-life-books","title":"'The Soviet Union' by Time-Life Books","description":"\u003ch4\u003ePublished in the final decade of the USSR, this volume from Time-Life’s \u003cem\u003eLibrary of Nations\u003c\/em\u003e series is a lavishly illustrated attempt to explain the Soviet Union as both political system and lived society.\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt moves between the long history of Russian state power, revolution and Communist government and the textures of ordinary Soviet life: housing, work, food, marriage, religion, childhood, drinking, agriculture and the enormous geographical distances contained within the Union.  Produced in 1984, it describes a country that still appears durable and essentially permanent, only seven years before its dissolution.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe photographs are especially good: weddings conducted beneath Soviet insignia, Siberian domestic interiors, farms, religious observance and state architecture sit alongside reproductions of historical art and political imagery. Less a neutral reference book than a very handsome piece of late-Cold-War popular ethnography — the Soviet Union being explained to the Western household just before the object of explanation disappeared.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTime-Life Books, 1984. First edition. Hardcover. Orange cloth boards with mounted colour photographic plate; extensively illustrated throughout in colour and black and white. Light rubbing and handling wear to boards, with minor wear at corners and edges. Internally clean and unmarked; binding firm. Very good condition.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"bower studio","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46002346852435,"sku":null,"price":17.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0689\/0268\/2707\/files\/womenintranslation_55.png?v=1787186981","url":"https:\/\/bowerbooks.com\/products\/the-soviet-union-by-time-life-books","provider":"bower books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}