Russia has one of the lowest rates of adult life expectancy in the world. Average life expectancy for a man in America is 74; in Russia, it is just 59. Birth rates and population levels have also plummeted. These excess levels of mortality affect all countries that formed the former Soviet bloc. Running into many millions, they raise obvious comparisons with the earlier period of forced transition under Stalin. This book seeks to put the recent history of the transition into a longer term perspective by identifying, explaining and comparing the pattern of change in Russia in the last century. It offers a sharp challenge to the conventional wisdom and benign interpretations offered in the west of what has happened since 1991. Through a careful survey of the available primary and secondary sources, Mike Haynes and Rumy Husan have produced the first and most complete and accurate account of Russian demographic crisis from the Revolution to the present. 'Combining exhaustive demographic inquiry with incisive social and political analysis, the authors record the successive phases of the trauma that Russia has endured in the 20th century, placing each in its historical context and ideological setting. A vivid and chilling account of some of the most terrible events of modern history.' Noam Chomsky 'The claim that economics and related disciplines are value-free objective sciences is now thoroughly discredited. Yet the need for humane and dispassionate scholarship in these disciplines has never been more needed. Michael Haynes and Rumy Husan have provided just this with their fine volume, A Century of State Murder? By carefully examining the available statistics, their meaning and limitations, and the conventional wisdom about Russia and the USSR of the past 100 years, i.e. before and after the fall of "communism", they have produced a detailed, balanced and clearly written account of the dreadful history of Russian demography in the regimes of this period. All of them stand condemned, for their arrogance, harshness and ignorance, as do the irresponsible advisors from the West who advocated ill-conceived institutional changes based on mistaken applications of mainstream economic theory to inappropriate situations.' G.C. Harcourt, Jesus College, Cambridge University
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这本书在论证逻辑上的构建,简直是一场精彩的智力博弈。作者并没有试图用单一的、线性的证据链来证明自己的观点,而是采取了一种“证据的饱和攻击”策略。他从不同学科的交叉点切入——社会学、法理学、国际关系理论,甚至偶尔触及到神学和伦理学的边缘——构建起一个多维度的证据网络。这种处理方式的精妙之处在于,它迫使读者主动参与到论证过程中,去检验每块“砖头”是否牢固。我发现自己经常停下来,在脑海中试图构建反驳的论点,但很快又会被作者后续抛出的、来自不同领域的佐证所化解。它展示了一种高度成熟的批判性思维:它不惧怕展示证据的复杂性,反而将这种复杂性视为论证力量的来源。这使得全书读起来,更像是一场与作者共同进行的、关于历史真相的深度审问,而不是单方面的说教。
评分这本书的叙事视角着实令人耳目一新,它不像传统历史著作那样仅仅罗列事实和时间线,而是巧妙地将宏大的政治叙事与个体的命运编织在一起。作者的笔触细腻入微,即便是描绘那些发生在历史高层的决策,也总能折射出它们对普通人生活的深远影响。我特别欣赏它在探讨权力运作机制时的那种冷峻与克制,没有过度煽情,却字字凿凿地揭示了体制如何一步步走向失控,以及那些看似微小的妥协最终如何累积成灾难性的后果。阅读过程中,我时常感到一种强烈的代入感,仿佛自己正站在历史的十字路口,亲眼目睹那些艰难的选择是如何做出的。全书的结构安排也极为精妙,它并非线性叙事,而是通过多条时间线和不同人物的视角进行交叉穿插,这种手法使得原本可能枯燥的学术探讨变得富有张力和悬念,让人忍不住想要一探究竟。尤其是在对特定历史事件的重新解读部分,作者提供的全新视角,确实挑战了我原有的认知框架,引发了深刻的反思。
评分这本书最大的价值,或许在于它提供了一种看待“不作为的后果”的全新框架。它不仅仅关注那些被记录在案的、清晰可见的暴行,更深入地探讨了那些在灰色地带游移的、因制度性麻木或政治算计而被漠视的生命消逝。这种“失踪的历史”的挖掘,极大地拓宽了我们对“责任”边界的理解。作者没有给出简单的道德审判,而是描绘了一幅关于集体失忆和制度性健忘的悲剧画卷。阅读体验是沉重的,但这种沉重感是必要的,因为它迫使我们直面一个令人不安的事实:历史的进程往往不是由少数恶魔决定的,而是由无数平庸之人的“日常操作”塑造而成的。读完之后,我意识到,对历史保持警惕,不仅仅是对过去负责,更是对当下和未来所有“制度性盲点”的提前干预,这是一种深远的警世恒言。
评分从装帧设计和排版来看,这本书无疑是经过精心打磨的出版物。纸张的选择偏向于哑光质感,拿在手里有沉甸甸的分量,这本身就赋予了内容一种不容忽视的庄重感。内页的字体选择清晰易读,但最值得称赞的是其对图表和引文的处理。那些穿插在正文中的历史照片和文件摘录,都不是简单地作为装饰出现,而是经过了精准的布局和必要的留白,让读者在切换阅读焦点时能够得到恰到好处的喘息。我注意到,许多关键论点后的脚注处理得非常得体,既保证了学术的溯源性,又避免了频繁中断阅读流畅性。这表明出版方和作者在如何将严肃的研究成果以最易于接受的方式呈现给普通读者方面,下足了功夫。这种对阅读体验的尊重,让我在长时间的深度阅读中,依然能保持高度的专注力,很少感到疲劳。
评分这本书的语言风格,在我读过的同类题材中,堪称独树一帜。它既有学术著作的严谨与扎实,又充满了文学作品的张力与节奏感。作者似乎毫不费力地在晦涩的政治哲学与生动的场景描绘之间游走自如。例如,在描述权力核心的微妙氛围时,那种压抑感几乎要穿透纸面,让人屏住呼吸;而当叙述到社会边缘群体的挣扎时,文字又变得如同老旧的纪录片胶片一般,带着粗粝的质感和无可辩驳的真实。最让我震撼的是其对“动机”的剖析,它没有简单地将历史人物标签化,而是深入挖掘了他们行为背后的复杂心理驱动力——那种夹杂着理想主义、恐惧、野心和惰性的复杂混合物。这种深入骨髓的洞察力,使得整部作品的厚重感油然而生,它不仅仅是在记录历史,更像是在解剖人性在极端环境下的反应机制。读完之后,我感觉自己对历史人物的评价标准都变得更加审慎和复杂了。
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