In Russia in the Making (originally published in 1957), John Lawrence presents the long and complicated history of Russia as a living and intelligible whole from the very beginning. Based on a wide knowledge of Russian history and a considerable experience of Soviet ways, his book provides an admirable starting point for wider reading. The author gives a clear outline which demonstrates how authoritarianism is in the tradition of Russian history. Full value is given to the immense changes brought about by the revolution, and the book ends with an analysis of the changes in social structure that forced Stalin's work into another mould.

This book demands no previous knowledge of its subject. The author has used his knowledge of Soviet ways to produce from a complicated and confusing record a most readable and easily digestible narrative.