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Nuclear Russia

The Atom in Russian Politics and Culture

Professor Paul Josephson

$90

Hardback

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English
Bloomsbury Academic
29 December 2022
Series: Russian Shorts
In the first cultural and political history of the Russian nuclear age, Paul Josephson describes the rise of nuclear physics in the USSR, the enthusiastic pursuit of military and peaceful nuclear programs through the Chernobyl disaster and the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the ongoing, self-proclaimed ‘renaissance’ of nuclear power in Russia in the 21st century. At the height of their power, the Soviets commanded 39,000 nuclear warheads, yet claimed to be servants of the ‘peaceful atom’ – which they also pursued avidly. This book examines both military and peaceful Soviet and post-Soviet nuclear programs for the long durée – before the war, during the Cold War, and in Russia to the present – whilst also grappling with the political and ideological importance of nuclear technologies, the associated economic goals, the social and environmental costs, and the cultural embrace of nuclear power.

Nuclear Russia probes the juncture of history of science and technology, political and cultural history, and environmental history. It considers the atom in Russian society as a reflection of Leninist technological utopianism, Cold War imperatives, scientific hubris, public acceptance, and a state desire to conquer nature. Furthermore the book examines the vital – and perhaps unexpected – significance of ethnicity and gender in nuclear history by looking at how Kazakhs and Nenets lost their homelands and their health in Russia in the wake of nuclear testing, as well as the surprising sexualization of the taming of the female atom in the Russian ‘Miss Atom’ contests that commenced in the 21st century.
By:  
Imprint:   Bloomsbury Academic
Country of Publication:   United Kingdom
Dimensions:   Height: 198mm,  Width: 129mm, 
ISBN:   9781350272569
ISBN 10:   1350272566
Series:   Russian Shorts
Pages:   160
Publication Date:  
Audience:   College/higher education ,  General/trade ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Primary ,  ELT Advanced
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
List of Illustrations 1. Nuclear Bolshevism 2. Nuclear Defense 3. Nuclear Peace 4. Nuclear Hubris 5. Nuclear Disintegration 6. Nuclear Renaissance Index

Paul R. Josephson is Professor of History at Colby College, USA. He is the author of twelve books, including Traffic (Bloomsbury, 2017), Fish Sticks, Sports Bras, and Aluminum Cans (2015), The Conquest of the Russian Arctic (2014), Lenin’s Laureate: A Life in Communist Science (2010), Would Trotsky Wear a Bluetooth? Technological Utopianism Under Socialism (2009), and Motorized Obsession: Life, Liberty and the Small Bore Engine (2007).

Reviews for Nuclear Russia: The Atom in Russian Politics and Culture

The nuclear complex of Russia has not come to an end, to the contrary: its military and civilian arms continue to expand threating both the global political order and the environment. Nuclear Russia unfolds the entangled history of this socio-technical complex from the February Revolution of 1917 to the present, its knowledge and engineering orders, nuclear warheads and military facilities, actors and reactors, and above all its political, economic, environmental and cultural ramifications. This most timely book is a great pleasure to read. * Helmuth Trischler, Prof. Dr., Rachel Carson Center and Deutsches Museum, Munich, Germany * The nuclear complex of Russia has not come to an end, to the contrary: its military and civilian arms continue to expand threating both the global political order and the environment. Nuclear Russia unfolds the entangled history of this socio-technical complex from the February Revolution of 1917 to the present, its knowledge and engineering orders, nuclear warheads and military facilities, actors and reactors, and above all its political, economic, environmental and cultural ramifications. This most timely book is a great pleasure to read. * Helmuth Trischler, Prof. Dr., Rachel Carson Center and Deutsches Museum, Munich, Germany *


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