If you read this book, and only this book, you might be entertained by the stories of the Russian Civil War, and you might get an interesting idea of how the NEP evolved, how Stalin won his struggles, and (to the extent it's even discussed) how collectivization came about. And you'd probably be mislead. Duranty, these days, is notorious for the Pulitzer he won for reporting during the era of Holodomor, the famine of the early 30s in the Ukraine, but it's barely touched on in the book. You see some anecdotes -- a few treated humorously -- about the role of the G.P.U., but no real indication of the true nature of the terror even in the 20s, let alone the evolving terror post-Kirov (whose assassination is mentioned). Don't be fooled by the jocular nature -- in many respects, this is a dishonest book, and it absolutely requires reading around the subject in order to pick at the great number of sins of omission Duranty commits. Recommended only if you want his point of view, and if you have a lot of salt. ( )