One Day We Will Live Without Fear: Everyday Lives Under the Soviet Police State [Hardcover]

What was life in the Soviet Union really like? Through a series of true stories,One Day We Will Live Without Feardescribes what people’s day-to-day life was like under the regime of the Soviet police state. Drawing on events from the 1930s through the 1970s, Mark Harrison shows how, by accident or design, people became entangled in the workings of Soviet rule. The author outlines the seven principles on which that police state operated during its history, from the Bolshevik revolution of 1917 to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, and illustrates them throughout the book. Well-known people appear in the stories, but the central characters are those who will have been remembered only within their families: a budding artist, an engineer, a pensioner, a government office worker, a teacher, a group of tourists. Those tales, based on historical records, shine a light on the many tragic, funny, and bizarre aspects of Soviet life.

"This book will appeal to readers across a wide spectrum, from general readers looking for something unique and interesting to read to academics seeking insights into how the secret police operated and the impact that their actions had on ordinary citizens." —Anna Dogole, historyinreview.org

Mark Harrisonis a professor of economics at the University of Warwick and a research fellow at the Hoover Institution. He has visited Russia many times and has written extensively about the economic history of the Soviet Union and of the two world wars. His most recent book isThe Economics of Coercion and Conflict(World Scientific, 2015).