GODLESS COMMUNISTS: ATHEISM AND SOCIETY IN SOVIET RUSSIA, 1917-1932 - Hardcover

HUSBAND, WILLIAM

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0875802575 ISBN 13: 9780875802572

Publisher: Northern Illinois University Press, 1999

Synopsis

"Godless Communists" offers a fresh interpretation of early Soviet efforts to create an atheistic, scientific society. Husband shows that religion, contrary to Bolshevik assertions, was not merely an expression of gullibility and ignorance but a firmly entrenched system for ordering family and community relationships. The Bolsheviks' efforts to abolish the Church failed because they underestimated how tightly religious beliefs were woven into the fabric of the Russians' daily lives.

Exploring the confrontation between secularism and the lower classes' traditional beliefs, "Godless Communists" illustrates how developments between 1917 and 1932 shaped the attitudes toward religion and atheism that endure in Russia today.

About this title

About the Author:

William B. Husband, Associate Professor of History at Oregon State University, is author of "Revolution in the Factory."

Review:

"Elegantly written . . . extraordinarily rich, complex, and far-ranging." -- Gregory L. Freeze, Brandeis University

"Presents a carefully nuanced view of the interplay between state and society." -- J. Arch Getty, University of California at Riverside

About this edition

• Publisher: Northern Illinois University Press
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0875802575
• ISBN 13: 9780875802572
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 258