The Bread of Affliction: The Food Supply in the USSR during World War II: 76 (Cambridge Russian, Soviet and Post-Soviet Studies, Series Number 76) - Hardcover

Moskoff, William

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521374995 ISBN 13: 9780521374996

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1990

Synopsis

This book tells how the Soviet Union fed itself after the invasion by the Germans during World War II. The author argues that central planning became much less important in feeding the population, and civilians were thereby forced to become considerably more self reliant in feeding themselves. A rationing system was instituted soon after the war began, but quickly became irrelevant because of the chronic food shortages. The breakdown in central supplies of food was accompanied by the diminished importance of the rouble, which in many places was replaced by bread and clothing as the medium of exchange. Although the Soviet army was given high precedence over civilians, the author also shows that the population living under German occupation was much worse off than were Soviet civilians living in the rear. In addition to extensive use of American and German archives from the war period, the author interviewed more than thirty Soviet emigres who survived the war.

About this title

Review:

"This is the best book on the subject yet to appear in any language, and it is a delight to have it in print." W. Bruce Lincoln, Annals of the American Academy

"...a very readable and interesting account of Soviet efforts to feed the Red Army and civilian population during the Second World War....Moskoff has written an important book, one that helps fill a glaring gap in the historical literature. He has utilized a wide array of sources, including interviews of Soviet émigrés, in an effort to provide an informative account of this grim chapter of Soviet history." Thomas J. Greene, Canadian Slavonic Papers

"William Moskoff has produced a very informative, logically organized, and carefully written account of a topic that is important....The Bread of Affiction is a major contribution to our understanding of the social and economic crises confronting the USSR during the war with Germany." Richard Bidlack, The Russian Review

Book Description:

This book tells how the Soviet Union fed itself after the invasion by the Germans in 1941. As well as making extensive use of American and German archives from the war period, the author interviewed more than thirty Soviet émigrés who survived the war.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1990
• ISBN 10: 0521374995
• ISBN 13: 9780521374996
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 274