{"product_id":"its-only-a-joke-comrade-jamie-c-johnstone-9781985635821","title":"It's Only A Joke, Comrade!: Humour, Trust and Everyday Life under Stalin (1928-1941)","description":"\u003cb\u003e'A stunningly original study of Stalinist society... Essential reading for anyone interested in how human beings navigate a path through times of extraordinary upheaval, privation and danger'\u003c\/b\u003e - Daniel Beer \u003cp\u003eIn the shadow of the Gulag, Soviet citizens were still cracking jokes. They had to.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e Drawing on diaries, interviews, memoirs and hundreds of previously secret documents, \u003ci\u003eIt's Only a Joke, Comrade \u003c\/i\u003e uncovers how they joked, coped, and struggled to adapt in Stalin's brave new world. It asks what it really means to live under a dictatorship: How do people make sense of their lives? How do they talk about it? And whom can they trust to do so?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e Moving beyond ideas of 'resistance', 'doublethink', 'speaking Bolshevik', or Stalin's Cult of Personality to explain Soviet life, it reveals how ordinary people found their way and even found themselves in a life lived along the fault-lines between rhetoric and reality.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003cb\u003e'An extraordinary achievement'\u003c\/b\u003e - Ronald Grigor Suny\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003cb\u003e'Re-vitalizes our understanding of Soviet society'\u003c\/b\u003e - Lynne Viola\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003cb\u003e'Fascinating ... lively, engaging, and at times very funny'\u003c\/b\u003e - Catriona Kelly\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003cb\u003e'The best book on Stalinism I've read in a long time'\u003c\/b\u003e - S.A. Smith\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003cb\u003e'One of those rare books that not only has to be read by scholars in the field, but is also accessible to a wide readership. Indeed it is an essential read for anybody who wants to get beyond standard views of the \"communist joke\" and understand what humour really tells us about life under this extraordinary regime'\u003c\/b\u003e - David Priestland\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Jamie C. Johnstone, Jonathan Waterlow\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1985635828\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781985635821\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Createspace Independent Publishing Platform\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 06\/13\/2018\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 308\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.91lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.02h x 5.98w x 0.64d\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Jamie C. Johnstone","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":43996486566143,"sku":"9781985635821","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_68ce5f43-11d9-4eb5-ad27-8ab79d995d9d.jpg?v=1683341963","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/its-only-a-joke-comrade-jamie-c-johnstone-9781985635821","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}