Why do some state-building efforts succeed when others fail? Using formerly unavailable archival sources, this book presents an explanation for the rise and subsequent collapse of the Soviet state. The study explains how personal networks and elite identity served as informal sources of power that influenced state strength. Reconstructing the State also offers alternative interpretations of how the weak Bolshevik state extended its reach to a vast rural and multi-ethnic periphery as well as the dynamics of the center-regional conflict in the 1930s that culminated in the Great Terror.

Using archival sources, this book presents an explanation for the rise and subsequent collapse of the Soviet state.
Reviews
'Easter's superb study illuminates the heretofore underappreciated role of regional elite networks in the evolution of the Soviet state. This lucidly written book is a fine political history embedded in a sophisticated and useful theoretical framework. It is an important contribution to political science and Soviet history.' Zoitan Barany, University of Texas, Austin



Book Information
ISBN 9780521035873
Author Gerald M. Easter
Format Paperback
Page Count 240
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Weight(grams) 366g
Dimensions(mm) 228mm * 150mm * 14mm