God Save the USSR

A Foreign Affairs Best Book of 2022 Enlightening and highly original...[Eden] successfully knits together the stories of a diverse range of Muslim peoples . . . to tell the story of how Soviet religious repression retreated and changed shape over the course of the war and how Soviet Muslim communities, both at home and at the front, responded to these shifts... [I]nnovative work that the author has laid out in this exciting book. * American Historical Review * God Save the USSR focuses on the experience of Soviet Muslims, drawing on a huge array of sources to show the resurgence of devotional life, a social history that's rarely mentioned elsewhere. * Book Riot * Based on newly available sources in many languages, including Persian, Tatar, and Uzbek, Eden's innovative study explores the dynamics of Muslim life during World War II. * Foreign Affairs * Eden's newest book... adds to his ongoing accomplishments in unearthing untouched sources on significant events in Central Asia and Russia. This book is an original in many ways."" * Russian Review * This is a brilliant and original book. Jeff Eden uses a rich trove of previously unknown sources to explore the experiences of Soviet Muslims during World War II. He tells the story of the wartime 'revolution in religious life' mainly from the perspective of Muslims in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Russia, who range from young Red Army soldiers praying in foxholes to elites raising money for the war effort. God Save the USSR deserves to be read by anyone interested in Soviet history, Soviet Muslims, and the Second World War. * Adrienne Edgar, University of California, Santa Barbara *