Soviet Criminal Justice Under Stalin

Soviet Criminal Justice Under Stalin is the first comprehensive account in any language of Stalin's struggle to make criminal law in the USSR a reliable instrument of rule. Using declassified archives, the book reveals the story of nonpolitical justice, on the local scene as well as in the center. Contrary to conventional wisdom, Peter Solomon emphasizes the initial weakness of the Soviet state and the limits of the dictators' capacity to rule.

Soviet Criminal Justice Under Stalin is the first comprehensive account of Stalin's struggle to make criminal law in the USSR a reliable instrument of rule, emphasizing the initial weakness of the Soviet state and the limits of Stalin's capacity to rule. Peter Solomon also offers new perspectives on collectivization, the Great Terror, the politics of abortion, and the disciplining of the labor force. This book should appeal to anyone interested in the political, social, or legal history of the USSR, judicial reform in post-Soviet states, law in authoritarian regimes, or comparative legal development.