My Life in Stalinist Russia

By Mary M. Leder,

Book cover of My Life in Stalinist Russia: An American Woman Looks Back

Book description

"The thoughtful memoirs of a disillusioned daughter of the Russian Revolution. . . . A sometimes astonishing, worm's-eye view of life under totalitarianism, and a valuable contribution to Soviet and Jewish studies." -Kirkus Reviews

"In this engrossing memoir, Leder recounts the 34 years she lived in the U.S.S.R. . .…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked My Life in Stalinist Russia as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Mary Leder was an American teenager in the 1930s when her Jewish socialist immigrant parents, poverty-stricken by the Great Depression, decided to return to Russia to build a Jewish homeland in Birobidzhan. After a brief period of difficulty, they left the Soviet Union and returned to the United States, but Leder was detained due to passport difficulties.

In this moving memoir, she discusses her life in Moscow as a student, a factory worker, an editor, and a young wife and mother. She provides a tragic and compelling account of the repressions of the 1930s, the chaotic evacuation of Moscow in…

From Wendy's list on the Soviet Union in World War II.

Want books like My Life in Stalinist Russia?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like My Life in Stalinist Russia.

Browse books like My Life in Stalinist Russia

Book cover of The 900 Days: The Siege of Leningrad
Book cover of Why Stalin's Soldiers Fought: The Red Army's Military Effectiveness in World War II
Book cover of To the Tashkent Station: Evacuation and Survival in the Soviet Union at War

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,187

readers submitted
so far, will you?

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in the Soviet Union, Stalinism, and presidential biography?

The Soviet Union 378 books
Stalinism 24 books