This volume, based on extensive research in formerly secret archives, examines the progress of Soviet industrialisation against the background of the rising threat of aggression from Germany, Japan and Italy, and the consolidation of Stalin's power. The iron and steel industry expanded rapidly, new non-ferrous and rare metals were introduced, and the foundations were laid of a modern armaments industry. Following the disastrous famine of 1932-33, agriculture recovered, and sufficient grain stocks were accumulated to cope with the shortages after the bad weather of 1936. These successes were achieved, after the abolition of rationing by combining central planning and mobilisation campaigns with the use of economic incentives and experimentation with markets. Although the Soviet system ultimately failed, its success in these years was a crucial stage in the spread of the economic and social transformation which began in England in the eighteenth century to the rest of the world.

This book concludes The Industrialisation of Soviet Russia, an authoritative account of the Soviet Union's industrial transformation between 1929 and 1939. The volume before this one covered the 'good years' (in economic terms) of 1934 to 1936. The present volume has a darker tone: beginning from the Great Terror, it ends with the Hitler-Stalin pact and the outbreak of World War II in Europe. During that time, Soviet society was repeatedly mobilised against internal and external enemies, and the economy provided one of the main arenas for the struggle. This was expressed in waves of repression, intensive rearmament, the increased regimentation of the workforce and the widespread use of forced labour.

Based on extensive research in formerly secret archives, this volume examines the progress of Soviet industrialisation against the background of the rising threat of aggression from Germany, Japan and Italy, and the consolidation of Stalin's power.