'Superb... Immensely important... This is a tragic story, and Smith tells it magnificently' The Telegraph
One of the most anticipated books of 2026 according to Financial Times and New Statesman
An extraordinarily atmospheric and powerful history of the world's largest state and its decline and fall
With Stalin's death, the Soviet Union remained a repressive, harsh and belligerent place, but one which became more predictable for its citizens and one which made a genuine attempt to create the egalitarian, progressive country that the Russian Revolution had once promised. That this attempt would fail was not clear until the 1980s.
Mark B. Smith's remarkable book recreates the day-to-day life of this vast state, the largest ever to exist. What was life like in a country which made such absolute claims for the future, which claimed to be on its way to creating a people's utopia and which, like the USA, owned enough atomic weapons to end human life on Earth?
Exit Stalin is filled with extraordinary stories about those who lived in the USSR and the distinctive and functioning civilization that they built. Many of them embraced its values, understood its goals and could not imagine life outside such a vastly ambitious and progressive project. The shortages, coercion and incompetence that underlay the USSR - and which by the late 1980s would doom it - has to be understood alongside the acceptance it always had from many of its citizens. And this in turn is a crucial issue for understanding Russia and the rest of the former Soviet Union in the 21st century.
| ISBN: | 9780241400852 |
| Publication date: | 29th January 2026 |
| Author: | Mark B Smith |
| Publisher: | Allen Lane an imprint of Penguin Books Ltd |
| Format: | Hardback |
| Pagination: | 752 pages |
| Genres: |
European history Social and cultural history |
'Superb... Immensely important... This is a tragic story, and Smith tells it magnificently' The Telegraph
One of the most anticipated books of 2026 according to Financial Times and New Statesman
An extraordinarily atmospheric and powerful history of the world's largest state and its decline and fall
With Stalin's death, the Soviet Union remained a repressive, harsh and belligerent place, but one which became more predictable for its citizens and one which made a genuine attempt to create the egalitarian, progressive country that the Russian Revolution had once promised. That this attempt would fail was not clear until the 1980s.
Mark B. Smith's remarkable book recreates the day-to-day life of this vast state, the largest ever to exist. What was life like in a country which made such absolute claims for the future, which claimed to be on its way to creating a people's utopia and which, like the USA, owned enough atomic weapons to end human life on Earth?
Exit Stalin is filled with extraordinary stories about those who lived in the USSR and the distinctive and functioning civilization that they built. Many of them embraced its values, understood its goals and could not imagine life outside such a vastly ambitious and progressive project. The shortages, coercion and incompetence that underlay the USSR - and which by the late 1980s would doom it - has to be understood alongside the acceptance it always had from many of its citizens. And this in turn is a crucial issue for understanding Russia and the rest of the former Soviet Union in the 21st century.
Exit Stalin features in the following genres: European history, Social and cultural history
Exit Stalin is available in Paperback, Hardback
Exit Stalin was written by Mark B Smith and published by Allen Lane an imprint of Penguin Books Ltd
Exit Stalin has 752 pages
£36.00