Anti-Civilization: The Sovietization of Central Europe, 1945-1956

FAIN: FB-54129-09

Anne Applebaum
Legatum Institute (London 89-100 United Kingdom)

In recent years, the transformation of totalitarian societies into democracies has become a central goal of American foreign policy. Yet despite the importance of "democratization," very little attention has been paid to the opposite problem: Namely, the question of how small groups of people managed to impose totalitarianism on their societies in the first place. With this in mind, I propose to write a history of the imposition of Soviet communism on central Europe in the years between 1945 and 1956. I will focus on three countries: Poland, Hungary and East Germany. The book, intended for a popular as well as a scholarly audience, will focus both on repression -- the creation of the secret police, the use of violence -- and on the transformation of schools, media and the arts for propaganda purposes. Past histories of the region have often focused on the origins of the Cold War; this book will explore social and psychological changes within the societies themselves.

Associated Products

Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe, 1944-1956 (Book)
Title: Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe, 1944-1956
Author: Anne Applebaum
Editor: Kris Puopolo
Abstract: A groundbreaking history of how Communism took over Eastern Europe after World War II and transformed the individuals who came under its sway. Iron Curtain describes how, spurred by Stalin and his secret police, the Communist regimes of Eastern Europe were created and what daily life was like once they were complete. Drawing on newly opened East European archives, interviews, and personal accounts translated for the first time, Applebaum portrays in chilling detail the dilemmas faced by millions of individuals trying to adjust to a way of life that challenged their every belief and took away everything they had accumulated. As a result the Soviet Bloc became a lost civilization, one whose cruelty, paranoia, bizarre morality, and strange aesthetics Applebaum captures in these electrifying pages.
Year: 2013
Year: 2012
Primary URL: http://http://www.worldcat.org/title/iron-curtain-the-crushing-of-eastern-europe-1944-56/oclc/814350432
Primary URL Description: worldcat link
Secondary URL: http://https://www.amazon.com/Iron-Curtain-Crushing-Eastern-1944-1956/dp/140009593X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1469195758&sr=8-1&keywords=iron+curtain+applebaum
Secondary URL Description: amazon link
Access Model: book, electronic book, audio book
Publisher: Doubleday
Type: Single author monograph
ISBN: 978-1400095933
Copy sent to NEH?: No

Prizes

National Book Award Finalist
Date: 11/14/2012
Organization: National Book Foundation
Abstract: finalist for the National Book award non-fiction prize

Cundill History Prize
Date: 1/1/2013
Organization: Cundill History Prize
Abstract: The Cundill History Prize recognizes and rewards the best history writing in English. A prize of US$75,000 is awarded annually to the book that embodies historical scholarship, originality, literary quality and broad appeal. The two runners-up each receive US$10,000. Administered by McGill University in Montreal and awarded by a distinguished jury, the Cundill History Prize honours the abiding passion for history of its founder, F. Peter Cundill, by encouraging informed public debate through the wider dissemination of history writing to new audiences around the world. Any historical period or subject is eligible, and translations into English are warmly welcomed. Books are accepted regardless of the nationality or place of residence of their authors.

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