About the book: 1994 / “Culture realizes itself on the border, going beyond its own limits,” one of the wisest methodologists of humanities, Mikhail Bakhtin, liked to repeat. These words are fully applicable to History. The history of the Soviet State has not yet been written. It has yet to be created. However, it is clear that without going beyond the limits of our egocentrism, we are doomed to remain captive of stereotypes and worlds firmly living in our minds: This is where a hard look beyond the barriers of the famous English historian Geoffrey Hosking can help. For the growing generations of domestic historians, this work, without a doubt, will be a help on the path to understanding the contradictory fate of Russia, which led to the birth of the Soviet soul, mysterious to the whole world. And if, having become acquainted with the research of Geoffrey Hosking, the new Karamzin, Klyuchevsky or Solovyov in the future with greater vigilance will begin to create a chronicle of the Soviet Union for schools, then the publication of this book will be justified. That is why I, with a clear conscience, recommend Geoffrey Hosking’s book “The History of the Soviet Union. 1917–1991” for political scientists, specialists in the field of humanities, history teachers. A.G. ASMOLOV, Member of the Council for Social Policy under the President of the Russian Federation, Vice-President of the Society of Psychologists of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Deputy Minister of Education of the Russian Federation