Hillel Ticktin has been one of the most controversial figures in Soviet studies for 25 years. His assertions that the Soviet economy was hopelessly inefficient, that the ruble was a sham, and that the elite was desperate once sounded outrageous. Ticktin consistently argued that perestroika would fail. In his view the USSR was and remained inherently Stalinist. It might lurch back and forth between reformist and reactionary leadership factions but, the system could not evolve, nor could it be restructured. Ultimately, it could only disintegrate, and when it did, the workers would hold the balance. This collection of essays offers a thorough sample of his views.

Hillel Ticktin

Origins of the Crisis in the USSR; Chapter 1 Introduction: The Aims and Achievements of Gorbachev; Chapter 2 Theory and Concepts; Chapter 3 The Nature of Social Control in the USSR; Chapter 4 The Nonpolitical Politics of the Soviet Elite; Chapter 5 The Intelligentsia; Chapter 6 The Working Class; Chapter 7 The Nature of the Soviet Political Economy; Chapter 8 The Present Economic Crisis in the USSR; Chapter 9 Perestroika and the Disintegration of the USSR; Chapter 10 Where Are We Going? The Nature of the Transitional Epoch;