Soviet Russia arrived in the world accidentally and departed unexpectedly. More than a hundred years after the Russian Revolution, the tumultuous history of the Soviet Union continues to fascinate us and influence global politics.

Here is an irresistible entree to a sweeping history. From revolution and Lenin to Stalin’s Great Terror, from World War II to Gorbachev’s perestroika policies, this is a lively, authoritative distillation of seventy-five years of communist rule and the collapse of an empire.

Sheila Fitzpatrick shows us the fate of non-Russian republics often left out of discussions of Soviet history, provides vivid portraits of key Soviet figures and traces the aftermath of the regime’s unexpected fall, including the rise of Vladimir Putin, a product of the Soviet system but not altogether a Soviet nostalgic.

The Shortest History of the Soviet Union is a small masterpiece, replete with telling detail and peppered with some very black humour.

Sheila Fitzpatrick is the multi-award-winning author of My Father’s Daughter, Mischka’s War, On Stalin’s Team and The Russian Revolution, among other titles. She is a regular contributor to the London Review …