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CHOICE Review

Smith brings a welcome addition to a growing list of updated and expanded studies of the Soviet system that have appeared during the period of reform and innovation associated with Mikhail Gorbachev. The author presents the basic topics essential to the study of Soviet politics: political culture, ideology and political socialization, governmental and party apparatus, the legal and economic system, the military, welfare, and dissent. He covers each topic in detail, effectively blending fact and analysis, and relying effectively on Soviet primary sources, archival data, and Western interpretations. Smith builds his study around the themes of continuity and change. Although not a very novel approach, the interesting style of presentation and especially the very readable discussions of Russian culture and the Russian revolutionary traditions allow the reader to grasp the contours and proportions of change and continuity that characterize Soviet and Russian political experiences. As an introductory text on Soviet politics and a primer to the era of perestroika and glasnost, Smith's text is an important and timely contribution. For upper-division undergraduate students.-J.D. Robertson, Texas A&M University