Promotional Information

Studies the made-to-order genre of socialist fiction produced at the direction of the Main Political Directorate of the Soviet Army and Navy.

Table of Contents

Introduction
The Political History of Soviet Military Fiction
The Aftermath of the War
The Changing of the Guard
The Hero of Our Times
Use Your Initiative, But Follow Orders!
Wife: Unit of Issue, Each
Home Is Where the Army Sends You
Dear Ivan
The School of Socialism
Playing at War
They Shoot Intruders, Don't They?
Afghanistan
Appendix
Annotated Bibliography
Index

About the Author

MARK T. HOOKER served as a linguist and Soviet/East-European area specialist with the U.S. armed forces and as a Department of Defense civilian. He is a visiting Scholar at the Russian and East European Institute at Indiana University.

Reviews

?Hooker outlines attempts, from 1960 to 1991, to have writers help Soviet readers adjust to shifts in military needs and priorities. This study shows how writers responded--not always in a socialist-realist way--to the given military themes....this volume provides plenty of evidence that writers could slip the bonds of bureaucratic mandate, seize authorial freedom, and write in a broadly human way.... All collections.?-Choice

"Hooker outlines attempts, from 1960 to 1991, to have writers help Soviet readers adjust to shifts in military needs and priorities. This study shows how writers responded--not always in a socialist-realist way--to the given military themes....this volume provides plenty of evidence that writers could slip the bonds of bureaucratic mandate, seize authorial freedom, and write in a broadly human way.... All collections."-Choice