In this comprehensive study of the early development of the Soviet propaganda system, Peter Kenez describes how the Bolshevik Party went about reaching the Russian people. Throughout this book, Kenez is more concerned with the experience of the Soviet people than with high-level politics. The book is both a major contribution to our understanding of the genius of the Soviet state, and of the nature of propaganda in the modern world.
List of illustrations; Preface; Introduction: the Soviet concept of propaganda; Part I. The Civil War: 1. The press; 2. The struggle for the peasants; 3. Liquidating illiteracy in revolutionary Russia; 4. The Komsomol in the Civil War; 5. The political use of books, films, and posters; Part II. The New Economic Policies: 6. Political education; 7. The literacy campaign; 8. The Komsomol in the 1920s; 9. The golden age of the Soviet cinema; 10. The press and book publishing in the 1920s; COnclusion and epilogue; Notes; Glossary; Bibliography; Index.
