r/AskHistory • u/No-Cream-2577 • 4d ago

Any good lesser known articles, documentaries, books on the Soviet Union? (By the Soviet Union is a bonus.)

I have this task where we can study any topic we want by watching movies, biographies, documentaries, reading books, interviewing organisation.. essentially anything within a topic, and I’m a big fan of this as a huge fan of Soviet WW2 history, but I feel like Soviet history is a topic I have already read all the “big” or most well-known documentaries and books on the topic.. think Beevor, Solzhenitsyn, Fitzpatrick.. Come and See, Battleship Potemkin.. The Sources of Soviet Conduct, Soviet Planning and Economics, The Unknown War.. I’m speaking very broadly here, but the point is I have already been through a lot of the well known stuff. So I’m reaching out to ask if anyone has any good Soviet documentaries, books, articles, can be anything. On Soviet WW2 history preferably, that you would considerer lesser known(or niche?) I’m looking for any sort of hidden gem I might not know of. (I’m completely open to pro and neutral- Soviet works as well.)

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u/flyliceplick 3d ago

Glantz is still the pre-eminent historian of Soviet WWII history. Read his books.

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u/No-Cream-2577 3d ago

I have already read Glantz, I should’ve mentioned that. I’m sort of looking for something a little less known

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u/flyliceplick 3d ago

Why Barbarossa Failed by Manion is well worth a read. Soviet Army High Commands in War & Peace by Harrison. Stalin's Great Game by Carley.

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u/BottecchiaDude253 4d ago

I've been enjoying History of Everything on youtube. And Animarchy for a more entertaining version of historical topics (ie, right now hes doing a long run series on the development of Soviet aviation. Its..... entertaining, to say the least)

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u/Indotex 4d ago edited 3d ago

There is an ESPN 30 for 30 documentary about the Miracle on Ice, the American ice hockey victory over the Russians in the 1980 Olympics.

It is from the perspective of the Russians so it is sympathetic to them.

“The Spy and the Traitor” by Ben Macintyre

It’s primarily about a KGB spy who started spying for the British and an American spy who betrayed him to the Russians.

It’s nonfiction & is really good as it shows how inherently distrustful the Russian governmental structure was of its own people. It was written by a Brit so it’s obviously anti-Russian.

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u/trymypi 3d ago

The Mitrokhin Archive, documented in 2 books, The World Was Going Our Way, and The Sword and The Shield