This comprehensive volume provides an introduction to the history of the Soviet armed forces from 1917 to 1991. The sixteen chapters show how the Bolsheviks survived the end of the First World War, the struggles against the White Armies and the Poles, the Leninist, Trotskyite, and Stalinist reconstructions, the Red Air Force, the Five-Year Plans, and more. Robin Higham and Frederick W. Kagan highlight the many facets of the Cold War, including the rise of the Soviet Navy after the Great Patriotic War, the disaster in Afghanistan, and the collapse of the Soviet Union. -- Publisher description.

Originally published in 2002.