Reporting from the frontlines of the First Cold War

Following the Bolshevik Revolution in November of 1917, the United States ended diplomatic relations with Russia, and refused to recognize the Soviet regime until 1933. Given Russia''s vast size and importance on the world stage, Washington closely monitored the internal developments in that country during the non-recognition period. The American diplomats, stationed in revolutionary Russia and later, in the territories of friendlier nations surrounding the Soviet state, prepared regular reports addressing various aspects of life in the USSR. Under the guidance of the Eastern European Affairs Division at the U.S. State Department, the Americans managed to compile substantial volumes of information about the Soviet state and society. This book focuses on issues of particular significance and intensity such as diplomatic observers'' treatment of political violence and economic hardships that engulfed tumultuous periods of the Revolution, Civil War, New Economic Policy, and Collectivization.