Overview

A work of refreshing originality and vivid appeal, Red Arctic tells the story of Stalinist Russia's massive campaign to explore and develop its Northern territories during the 1930s. Author John McCannon recounts the dramatic stories of the polar expeditions--conducted by foot, ship, and plane--that were the pride of Stalinist Russia, in order to expose the reality behind them: chaotic blunders, bureaucratic competition, and the eventual rise of the Gulag as the dominant force in the North. Red Arctic also traces the development of the polar-based popular culture of the decade, making use of memoirs, films, radio broadcasts, children's books, and cultural ephemera ranging from placards to postage stamps to show how Russia's ""Arctic Myth"" became an integral part of the overall socialist-realist aesthetic that animated Stalinist culture throughout the 1930s.

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9780195114362

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Reviews

A probing and thoroughly engrossing account. Professor McCannon makes judicious use of once secret Russian archives to produce a fascinating study of one of the most neglected aspects of Soviet history in the pre-World War II Stalin era. * Bruce Lincoln, Distinguished Research Professor, Northern Illinois University *

"""A probing and thoroughly engrossing account. Professor McCannon makes judicious use of once secret Russian archives to produce a fascinating study of one of the most neglected aspects of Soviet history in the pre-World War II Stalin era.""--Bruce Lincoln, Distinguished Research Professor, Northern Illinois University ""Red Arctic is a richly constructed and conceived work of history, populated by heroic northern explorers, dashing aviators, grim Stalin bureaucrats, polar bears, shamans, and class enemies. In this engagingly written narrative based on an impressive array of archival and published sources, John McCannon examines the Arctic myth in reality and legend, documenting the history of arctic exploration under Stalin as well as delving into the still relatively uncharted arena of Stalinist popular culture. Red Arctic is an original piece of work, representative of a new generation of historical scholarship on the Soviet Union.""--Lynne Viola, Professor of History, University of Toronto ""John McCannon's book is about both the actual and the symbolic Arctic, a place where heroes were made while real men and women slaved away in labor camps. Combining social and cultural history in a vivid narrative, the author explores how explorers became icons in a Stalinist dream factory. The central characters are as tall as the legendary Otto Shmidt but are dwarfed by Stalin and his minions who in doctored photographs towered over the heroes they made. This book is about Soviet celebrity and the ways in which the state and society conspired to create a post-revolutionary cultural hegemony.""--Ronald Grigor Suny, University of Chicago ""[A] scholarly bureaucratic history of Soviet efforts to exploit the Arctic.""--The New York Times Book Review ""McCannon's book is the first in any language to chronicle and analyze the heroic era of exploration and development in the Soviet Arctic. Drawing heavily on newly opened Soviet archives and a great variety of other sources, it combines solid scholarship, clear writing, and a deep understanding of the Russian and Soviet cultures to illuminate a subject, a region, and a period well known through rough sketches but for which there have been no detailed pictures.""--CHOICE ""[N]o one has examined [the Cheliuskin and polar flights] as extensively as McCannon. Anyone interested in Soviet history will find his story engaging.""--Slavic Review ""...Red Arctic is a very rich and enjoyable study which will appeal to historians, scholars of Soviet popular culture and anyone interested in the history of polar exploration.""--Slavic and East European Journal"

A probing and thoroughly engrossing account. Professor McCannon makes judicious use of once secret Russian archives to produce a fascinating study of one of the most neglected aspects of Soviet history in the pre-World War II Stalin era. Bruce Lincoln, Distinguished Research Professor, Northern Illinois University

Author Information

John McCannon is Assistant Professor of History at Norwich University.

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