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Review
'An incredibly smart, surprisingly involving and deeply eccentric book…. I am not alone in thinking that [Francis Spufford] has one of the most original minds in contemporary literature.' --Nick Hornby, Believer
'One can scarcely think of a recent book that conveys the everyday textures of life in the Soviet Union so well. ... This is a thrilling book that all enthusiasts of the Big State should read.' --Michael Burleigh, Sunday Telegraph
'(I) finished it in awe, not merely at Spufford's Stakhanovite research, but at his skill as a novelist, his judgement as a historian and his sheer guts in attempting something simultaneously so weird and yet so wonderful.' -- Dominic Sandbrook, Sunday Times
'As a gallimaufry of the funny, technical-scientific and deadly earnest, Red Plenty ranks as one of the strangest books ever written on the Soviet Union. From start to finish, the book is an eccentric delight; absorbing, pleasingly digressive and superbly written.' --Ian Thomson, Financial Times
'One can scarcely think of a recent book that conveys the everyday textures of life in the Soviet Union so well. ... This is a thrilling book that all enthusiasts of the Big State should read.' --Michael Burleigh, Sunday Telegraph
'(I) finished it in awe, not merely at Spufford's Stakhanovite research, but at his skill as a novelist, his judgement as a historian and his sheer guts in attempting something simultaneously so weird and yet so wonderful.' -- Dominic Sandbrook, Sunday Times
'As a gallimaufry of the funny, technical-scientific and deadly earnest, Red Plenty ranks as one of the strangest books ever written on the Soviet Union. From start to finish, the book is an eccentric delight; absorbing, pleasingly digressive and superbly written.' --Ian Thomson, Financial Times
Book Description
What if the Soviet 'miracle' had worked, and the communists had discovered the secret to prosperity, progress and happiness...?
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
50 of 51 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is a fantastic, innovative look at the economic policies of the USSR under Khrushchev. If my opening sentence sounds dull, please don't see it as a true representation of this book. Spufford's approach is to interweave extensive research with the imagination and invention of a novelist. The end result is a fantastic patchwork in which fictional characters rub shoulders with historical ones and stunning descriptive passages add lustre to what might have been dry, factual information.
Some experts might balk at the idea of a non-Russian speaker using secondary sources to construct such a book. Readers of Taubman's biography of Khruschchev might also feel that a sense of 'deja vu' creeps in at points. However, Spufford's 'novelistic' approach brought new angles to this topic for me and certainly made me think about certain aspects of the period in a different way.
I'm not sure that I have done an effective job in this review of explaining the wonderful book Spufford has created. All I can say is that, having read many of Spufford's sources previously, I was hugely impressed with the end result of his creative approach.
Some experts might balk at the idea of a non-Russian speaker using secondary sources to construct such a book. Readers of Taubman's biography of Khruschchev might also feel that a sense of 'deja vu' creeps in at points. However, Spufford's 'novelistic' approach brought new angles to this topic for me and certainly made me think about certain aspects of the period in a different way.
I'm not sure that I have done an effective job in this review of explaining the wonderful book Spufford has created. All I can say is that, having read many of Spufford's sources previously, I was hugely impressed with the end result of his creative approach.
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Spufford has a talent for conveying atmosphere, for recreating an era by means of anecdote, and he uses the technique to good effect here.
The story is of Soviet Russia, and how, through the appliance of science, it will forge ahead of the capitalists. Only it didn't happen like that.
Spufford relates the story by vignettes, first showing how the system might work, and the optimism engendered, then the gradual lapse into economic arthritis that led to the collapse of the system.
Well worth your money and your time.
The story is of Soviet Russia, and how, through the appliance of science, it will forge ahead of the capitalists. Only it didn't happen like that.
Spufford relates the story by vignettes, first showing how the system might work, and the optimism engendered, then the gradual lapse into economic arthritis that led to the collapse of the system.
Well worth your money and your time.
28 of 29 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Spufford's "Red Plenty" is an amazing work. I never thought I'd ever read a novel about economics, but this is a rare work. Other reviewers have already captured a lot of what the work is about, but as an historian what this book did was something that a history book would struggle to do and that is provide a sensation of expectation.
Often the historian is faced with teleological arguments and the dreaded threat of anachronism when assessing history. Received wisdom now tells us that Soviet Union was doomed to fail, this attitude dooms historians to wonder why there was a cold war at all, surely the West could have just waited and not have been as pro-active? This book undermines that notion, partly through shrewd judgement by picking a period in which the Soviet Union had the edge, the late 50s and early 60s - the book parachutes the reader into the era in which the Soviets beat the US to the punch with the ICBM and when the planned economy represented a real challenge to the free market. Spufford infuses us with the aspirations of his characters and does a marvellous job of suspending disbelief, leaving the reader thinking at the end that maybe the Soviet decline wasn't inevitable and could have been so different if some personalities hadn't intervened. In some respects this should be essential reading for any cold war student - it really breathes life into the topic.
As a work of literature it provides a compelling set of interlinking stories, paced correctly and very readable. For those of you worried about the economic content, this is very accessible and like a good fairy tale key pieces of information and explanations are transmitted to characters that need them explained, helping the reader understand if necessary.
I'd recommend this book to anyone wanting a really entertaining read, interested in history or economics or even those who simply enjoy intelligent prose.
Often the historian is faced with teleological arguments and the dreaded threat of anachronism when assessing history. Received wisdom now tells us that Soviet Union was doomed to fail, this attitude dooms historians to wonder why there was a cold war at all, surely the West could have just waited and not have been as pro-active? This book undermines that notion, partly through shrewd judgement by picking a period in which the Soviet Union had the edge, the late 50s and early 60s - the book parachutes the reader into the era in which the Soviets beat the US to the punch with the ICBM and when the planned economy represented a real challenge to the free market. Spufford infuses us with the aspirations of his characters and does a marvellous job of suspending disbelief, leaving the reader thinking at the end that maybe the Soviet decline wasn't inevitable and could have been so different if some personalities hadn't intervened. In some respects this should be essential reading for any cold war student - it really breathes life into the topic.
As a work of literature it provides a compelling set of interlinking stories, paced correctly and very readable. For those of you worried about the economic content, this is very accessible and like a good fairy tale key pieces of information and explanations are transmitted to characters that need them explained, helping the reader understand if necessary.
I'd recommend this book to anyone wanting a really entertaining read, interested in history or economics or even those who simply enjoy intelligent prose.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Stopped short of finishing line.
Remarkably well written book about a subject matter that would mainly appear in non-fiction publications. I was extremely impressed by the descriptions of Soviet life. Read more
Published 1 month ago by N. T. Harper
A marvellous blend of fact and imagination
How could anyone have ever had hope in the Soviet Union? This great book, not quite a novel, but certainly not history either, tries to answer that question with its examination of... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Mr. Adrian Mcmenamin
The pressing weight of individual histories
It's been noted already, that this is 'a book about the economic system in Stalin's Russia', and that you shouldn't let that put you off at all. Read more
Published 3 months ago by A. M. Wilson
Well worth a read
Absolutely loved this book. For those that lean politically left, or right, there is something here for everybody. Read more
Published 5 months ago by BigManu
A magical, unique, book
This is a unique and wonderful book. It tells the story of the Soviet Union's dash for growth, after the end of the Second World War. Read more
Published 5 months ago by A. J. Poulter
Light History
Spufford summarizes his book as ' A Russian fairy tale, though it really happened'.
If you did not know that it was based on real people in real country, you might read... Read more
If you did not know that it was based on real people in real country, you might read... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Bownham
Red Plenty is an Intellectual Tour de Force
What Fancis Spufford achieves in "Red Plenty" is intellectually dazzling. He manages to convey the flavour of living in the Soviet Union in the 50s 60s and 70s whilst portraying... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Toujours la musique.
THE RUSSIANS WERE NOT TEN FEET TALL
When I was young, say around 1960, it did seem as if the Russians were ten feet tall. They were ahead in the space race. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Stephen Cooper
Fiction or history?
I think I just didn't get it. Was hoping for a genuine history of Communism in the 1950/60s, but I found the fictional aspects got in the way of what I wanted. Read more
Published 8 months ago by History Geek
Excellent work, imaginitively presented.
This is a great book. I visited the old East Berlin for the first time back in the spring and have been pondering the question 'Why did the Soviet Union sincerely believe that it... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Stirling English
Listmania!
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