The emergence of national histories in post-Soviet society

Abstract Since the collapse of the USSR and the formation of new states, the notion of national identity has begun to occupy a central place as a tool for claiming political sovereignty. The quest for legitimacy has, as one might expect, solicited much reexamination of the past. But in the flood of national histories written over the past decade, it is sadly —though understandably — rare to find an analysis of the Soviet political and socio-cultural system which is free of emotional bias, whether it be hysterical outrage at a nation's suffering, or undue silence over the pain it may have inflicted on others.