Reddit mentions of Everything Was Forever, Until It Was No More: The Last Soviet Generation (In-Formation)

This is mostly right to my mind. However, I'd just be clear that economic reasons weren't the only cause of downfall in the Soviet Union. Social and Cultural reasons also played an important role (See for example: Alexei Yurchak's Everything was Forever Until it Was No More, or Ronald Suny's Revenge of the Past )

Anyway, I digress.

Back on to the topic of economics, I think in the US we've so internalized that Capitalism is the only way to economic success that we sort of don't consider what was actually going on, we just hear communism and kind of shut down our brains (but not in this subreddit of course!). In reality the Soviet economy was quite complex and resembled "communism" (small "c") not particularly to more of an an extent than the modern US economy resembles "capitalism." As a result, when you toss away the preconceived notions and look at the pure history of it, you see that the Soviet Economy actually had plenty of room to grow (which has been outlined already in here in a few places, so I won't rehash them here). Also, it should be obvious that "The Soviet Economy" wasn't a monolithic thing throughout its entire history. It underwent considerable changes in both form and function, and to go into all of those would really make this way too long, but suffice to say that if you want to closely analyze the economy of the Soviet Union you have to at the very least specify a time period.

Well if you like the Peredvizhniki: check out Vereschagin: he was a war artist, embedded with the troops and developing a really intense realistic form (I think of his as another Russian Courbet): e.g. Apatheosis, Road of the War Prisoners

Russia has had a long and turbulent artistic history in the last two or three centuries, and there is no one essence or spirit of an era or area. However, if you have specific questions I can answer them: Russian 20th century art is my area of expertise is (with an emphasis on the 1970s) I can probably recommend some good books ;)

What are you interested in specifically? Late 19th century? The avant-garde? Stalinism and socialist realism? Nonconformism and the underground? Natasha's Dance is a good cultural history of the 19th century and early 20th while Everything was Forever until it was no More is good on the post-war culture.

[You're thinking of this book] (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Everything-Forever-Until-More-Formation/dp/0691121176) Everything was forever until it was no more

I recommend this - Everything Was Forever, Until It Was No More – The Last Soviet Generation by Alexei Yurchak

Try:
http://www.amazon.com/Everything-Forever-Until-More--Formation/dp/0691121176/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1311346112&sr=8-1

Problem is that no one truly predicted the demise, thus the definitive reasons are still unknown.

Also read:
http://www.amazon.com/Soviet-Fates-Lost-Alternatives-Stalinism/dp/0231148976/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1311346316&sr=8-1

If anyone is interested, I've been told that the book Everything Was Forever, Until It Was No More is one of the definitive texts on the collapse of the Soviet Union. [Here's the amazon link.] (http://www.amazon.com/Everything-Was-Forever-Until-More/dp/0691121176)

I could offer you a reading list to elucidate my points about Russia and the negatives of imperialism within burgeoning industrialist society. Right now however, I'm actually very stretched thin. I'm on a business trip that looks like will now be extended. I'm working just under 100 hours per week now that I've inherited two more projects that were supposed to be assigned to others. It's kind of a cop-out to not further expand on my earlier statements. But since I don't perceive you as being particularly close-minded (if anything you seem appropriately honest about what you do and do not know) it might actually be beneficial to simply provide you with the data as it was presented to me, and then let you draw your own conclusions.

For starters I'd recommend reading about the history:

http://www.amazon.com/Russia-Russians-History-Geoffrey-Hosking/dp/0674011147

This book gives a very wide-angle approach to Russia, Russians, and their governments.

http://www.amazon.com/Everything-Forever-Until-More-Formation/dp/0691121176/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_c

This book offers a bit more of an intimate perspective about perhaps the most relevant generation of Post-Soviet influence.

http://www.amazon.com/Blowback-Second-Consequences-American-Empire/dp/0805075593

This book offers some insight into America's foreign policy during the 20th century. In particular the negative impact of crafting foreign policy through an aggressive campaign of global occupation. The latter chapters talk about China and the former Soviet Union and draws many disturbing parallels with the United States defense spending habits in the last decade.

http://www.amazon.com/Peoples-History-United-States-1492-Present/dp/B004HZ6XWS/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1300861749&sr=1-2

This book will perhaps be the most controversial read out of the list. It deals with the very unfortunate relationship between corporatism and American politics as well as the various stages of civil rights and labor movements. There is also a great deal of additional facts about imperialism in America which expands many of the points made by Chalmers Johnson.

http://www.amazon.com/What-Means-Libertarian-Charles-Murray/dp/0767900391/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1300861920&sr=1-1

There are several areas of agreement in this book between the views expressed by Chalmers Johnson and Howard Zinn. While the principles certainly come from different places, there is a well-reasoned, and thoughtful common ground. It is challenging from any perspective to completely agree or disagree with these narratives, but the contrast is most refreshing.

http://www.amazon.com/Pig-That-Wants-Eaten-Experiments/dp/0452287448/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1300862132&sr=1-1

This book is basically a breath mint. The subjects being tackled in the rest of these books can often be somewhat troubling. This book will offer you short thought experiments that will prove entertaining as well as provocative. They will also help provide some lightheartedness to the mix.