The Second World War: Contemporary Foreign Historiography (in Russian)

Michael

The Second World War: Contemporary Foreign Historiography: a collection of reviews and library-research papersThe collection on the history of World War II has been finally published.  We were going to publish it by last September (80th anniversary of the capitulation of Japan), but actually we only managed to prepare the manuscript by that time, so we received the paper copies in early May—right by the 81st anniversary of the capitulation of Germany.

The volume covers only non-Russian historiography of the Second World War because foreign publications are still quite hard to access in Russia.  Mostly these are papers on political, economical and social history; we almost didn’t consider the warfare history.  The materials of the collection cover not only the Eastern Front, but also the other theatres of World War II (Western and Southern Europe, South-East Asia), some papers deal with the situation in neutral countries.

Contents:

  • Preface
  • J. Eckel, ‘Pivot years: World War II in 20th-century history’ (Abstract)
  • G. Golub, ‘The eagle and the lion: reassessing Anglo-American strategic planning and the foundations of U. S. grand strategy for World War II’ (Abstract)
  • A. Holmila, ‘Parliament and the press: forging the United Nations in wartime Britain, 1939–45’ (Abstract)
  • R. I. Guzaerov, ‘Turtsiia i Velikobritaniia vo Vtoroi mirovoi voine’ [Turkey and Great Britain in World War II] (Review article)
  • O. V. Babenko, ‘Sovetsko-pol’skie otnosheniia 1939–1945 gg. (po materialam zhurnala Przegląd Wschodnioeuropejski 2022–2024 gg.)’ [The Soviet–Polish relations in 1939–45 (based on 2022–24 materials of Przegląd Wschodnioeuropejski)] (Review article)
  • M. H. Folly, ‘ “They treat us with scant respect”: prejudice and pride in British Military Liaison with the Soviet Union in the Second World War’ (Abstract)
  • T. Piffer, The Big Three Allies and the European Resistance: intelligence, politics, and the origins of the Cold War, 1939–1945 (Abstract)
  • M. Fritsche, ‘Spaces of encounter: relations between the occupier and the occupied in Norway during the Second World War’ (Abstract)
  • P. Fonzi, Oltre i confini: le occupazioni italiane durante la Seconda guerra mondiale (1939–1943) [Beyond the borders: Italian occupation during the Second World War (1939–1943)] (Abstract)
  • A. J. Rieber, Storms over the Balkans during the Second World War (Abstract)
  • G. Huff, World War II and Southeast Asia: economy and society under Japanese occupation (Abstract)
  • D. V. Petrukhina, review of A. Pomiecko, ‘ “It is never too late to fight for one’s family and nation”: attempts at “Belarusifying” soldiers in German-sponsored armed formations, 1941–1944’
  • S. G. Holtsmark, ‘Improvised liberation, October 1944: the Petsamo–Kirkenes Operation and the Red Army in Norway’ (Joint abstract)
  • Iu. V. Dunaeva, review of J. K. Hass, Wartime suffering and survival: the human condition under siege in the Blockade of Leningrad, 1941–1944
  • N. Belsky, Evacuee encounters on the Soviet home front during the Second World War (Abstract)
  • A. V. Apanasenok, ‘Kak “chuzhaia” voina stala “svoei” ’ [How the ‘someone else’s’ war became ‘ours’]: Review of V. Davis, Central Asia in World War Two: the impact and legacy of fighting for the Soviet Union
  • J. Rodgers, ‘A single wooden house standing in Stalingrad: Alexander Werth’s “Russian Commentary” on the BBC during the Second World War’ (Abstract)
  • N. Eaton, German blood, Slavic soil: how Nazi Königsberg became Soviet Kaliningrad (Abstract)
  • K. T. Hall, ‘The flyer trials: seeking justice for Lynchjustiz committed against American airmen during the Second World War’ (Abstract)
  • D. A. Harrisville, The virtuous Wehrmacht: crafting the myth of the German soldier on the Eastern Front, 1941–1944 (Abstract)
  • M. M. Mints, ‘Evrei vo Vtoroi mirovoi voine’ [Jews in the Second World War] (Review article)
  • D. C. Clary, The lost scientists of World War II (Article)
  • T. Dedering, ‘German “enemy aliens” in internment camps in South Africa in the Second World War’ (Abstract)
  • G. Papalia, ‘The Italian “Fifth Column” in Australia: Fascist propaganda, Italian-Australians and internment’ (Abstract)
  • Tzung-Ruei Tsou, ‘Schooling in camp: incarceration camps and the Japanese American school experience during World War II’ (Abstract)
  • M. Oprel, ‘Categorisation. Classification. Confiscation: dealing with enemy citizens in the Netherlands in the aftermath of World War II (1944–1967)’ (Abstract)
  • O. V. Bol’shakova, ‘Zhenshchiny vo Vtoroi mirovoi voine: sovremennaia zarubezhnaia istoriografiia’ [Women in World War II: contemporary foreign historiography] (Review article)
  • U. Khaitan, ‘Women beneath the surface: coal and the colonial state in India during the Second World War’ (Abstract)
  • O. Ayers, ‘Jim Crow and John Bull in London: transatlantic encounters with race and nation in the Second World War’ (Abstract)
  • C. O’Connell, ‘A Roman Holiday? African Americans and Italians in the Second World War’ (Abstract)
  • J. P. Smith, ‘Race and hospitality: Allied troops of colour on the South African home front during the Second World War’ (Abstract)
  • D. Littlewood, ‘Conscription in Britain, New Zealand, Australia and Canada during the Second World War’ (Abstract)
  • P. Iacobelli, ‘Japan’s intelligence network in Chile during the Second World War’ (Abstract)
  • N. Glover, K. Arnberg and F. Cottrell-Sundevall, ‘The making of consumer patriotism: mobilizing Christmas in Sweden during the Second World War’ (Abstract)
  • Bibliography
  • Contributors

Full text (PDF, 3.4 Mb)

Special Aspects of the Study of Imaginary Worlds, Through the Example of Fiction by J. R. R. Tolkien (in Russian)

Michael

Mints M. M. “Osobennosti izucheniia voobrazhaemoi real’nosti na primere proizvedenii Dzh. R. R. Tolkina” [Special aspects of the study of imaginary worlds, through the example of fiction by J. R. R. Tolkien]. Vestnik kul’turologii [Herald of culturology], no. 1 (2026): 182–97.

The article deals with a number of theoretical and methodological issues related to the study of J. R. R. Tolkien’s fictional universe as an imaginary world. The author concentrates mainly on particularities of the primary sources, their classification, various kinds of internal authorship, interrelations between certain groups of Tolkien’s works. Tolkien’s own views on the nature of creative work are also considered.

Full text (in Russian)

The Centenary of the USSR: Contemporary Historiography (in Russian)

Michael

The collection on historiography of the Soviet period published in 2024.  It covers both Russian and foreign historiography.  The materials of the volume analyze various issues relating to the establishment of the Soviet Union, its political system, national policy, economy, culture, science and education.

Contents:

  • Preface
  • F. Asschenfeldt and M. Trecker, “From Ludendorff to Lenin? World War I and the origins of Soviet economic planning” (Abstract)
  • A. Willimott, “Time at home: the October Revolution and Soviet temporalities” (Abstract)
  • J. D. White, “Leon Trotsky and Soviet historiography of the Russian Revolution (1918–1931)” (Abstract)
  • P. Dukes, “The Russian Revolution in The Encyclopaedia Britannica” (Abstract)
  • V. P. Liubin, review of XV Plekhanovskie chteniia: Sovetskii Soiuz v geopoliticheskikh usloviiakh 1927–1941 gg.: Problemy, tseli i rezul’taty v oblasti vnutrennego i vneshnepoliticheskogo kursov stroitel’stva gosudarstva: Materialy mezhdunarodnoi konferentsii, 23–25 sentiabria 2022 g. [The XV Plekhanov Readings: The Soviet Union in the geopolitical conditions of 1927–1941: Problems, aims, and results of internal and foreign policy in state building: Proceedings of the international academic conference, 23–25 September 2022]
  • A. V. Apanasenok, “Kak bezbozhie popytalos’ stat’ religiei [How the atheism tried to become a religion]”: Review of A Sacred Space Is Never Empty: A History of Soviet Atheism, by Victoria Smolkin
  • M. Battis, “On common ground: Soviet nationalities policy and the Austro-Marxist premise” (Abstract)
  • D. V. Petrukhina, “Natsional’no-kul’turnaia politika BSSR v 1920-e gody: Probleny i znachenie [National and cultural policy of the Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic in the 1920s: Problems and significance]” (Review article)
  • O. V. Babenko, “Novye zarubezhnye publikatsii o sovetsko-pol’skikh otnosheniiakh mezhvoennogo perioda (2022–2023) [New foreign publications on Soviet–Polish relations in the interwar period (2022–2023)] (Review article)
  • E. N. Emel’ianova, “SSSR i Afrika v 1920-e—1930-e gody: zarubezhnaia i rossiiskaia istoriografiia [The Soviet Union and Africa in the 1920s—1930s: Russian and foreign historiography]” (Review article)
  • J. L. Mickenberg, American Girls in Red Russia: Chasing the Soviet Dream (Abstract)
  • M. M. Mints, “Sovetskii Soiuz vo Vtoroi mirovoi voine: za predelami istorii boevykh deistvii [The Soviet Union in the Second World War: beyond the history of military operations]” (Review article)
  • O. V. Babenko, “Deiatel’nost’ frontovykh khudozhestvennykh brigad i teatrov v gody Velikoi Otechestvennoi voiny [Concerts and theatrical performances at the front in the years of the Great Patriotic War]” (Review article)
  • “Sovetskaia drevnost’ ”: liudi, uchrezhdeniia, knigi i nauka o drevnosti v SSSR [“Soviet antiquity”: people, organizations, books and scholarship on antiquity in the Soviet Union] (Abstract)
  • K. Świder, “Ekonomiczne przyczyny i mechanizmy rozpadu Związku Radzieckiego [Economical causes and mechanisms of the collapse of the Soviet Union] (Abstract)
  • Ch. J. Sullivan, Motherland: Soviet nostalgia in the Russian Federation (Abstract)
  • About the Authors

Full text (PDF, 2,3 MB)

The Bibliography of Middle-earth, English version

Michael

The Bibliography of Middle-earth, cover imageThe English version of my bibliography on Tolkien has been finally published. It covers both writings by Tolkien himself (including drafts published posthumously) and secondary sources including research papers, non-fiction literature and reference works, mainly in English, but also in Russian, French, German, Italian, and Ukrainian. The bibliography contains a total of about 2,600 references. The list of writings by Tolkien is accompanied by an overview article describing the main components of his creative legacy. References to publications in Russian are provided with annotations in English.

I hope paper copies will become available, sooner or later. Electronic version may be downloaded here. Hyperlinks should be clickable in a browser, but, strangely, may not function properly in PDF viewers.

The Study of J. R. R. Tolkien’s Fiction as an Issue of Methodology

Michael

Mints M. M. “Izuchenie tvorchestva Dzh. R. R. Tolkina kak metodologicheskaia problema” [The study of J. R. R. Tolkien’s fiction as an issue of methodology]. Vestnik Moskovskogo gosudarstvennogo lingvisticheskogo universiteta. Gumanitarnye nauki [The herald of Moscow State Linguistic University. Humanities], no. 7 (2025): 122–28.

The article (in Russian) is an updated version of my previous publication on the subject, this time in a professional academic periodical (or, more exactly, the first part of it; the second part is to be published next year).  It deals with such issues as the nature of Tolkien’s creative heritage, interrelation between the texts and the invented world they describe, perspectives and probable directions of further research. My main goal is to lay a necessary basis for interdisciplinary research in the field, as well as for the study of Tolkien’s universe as an imaginary world. My approach to these tasks is based on current methodology of the humanities taking into account the special aspects of the material under review (place and role of the primary source in a research, the study of imaginary worlds).

The published version of the article contains some errors in citations, so I’m posting here not only the PDF file, but also my initial manuscript.

Full test in PDF format

Continue reading →

Andrei Volkov, Memoirs of a Lieutenant General (in Russian)

Michael

Андрей Волков. Мемуарные записки (обложка)

Volkov, Andrei Sergeevich. Memuarnye zapiski: vospominaniia general-leitenanta inzhenerno-artilleriiskoi sluzhby. Moscow: INION RAN, 2025.

The book contains the memoirs of Lieutenant General Andrei Volkov (1893–1965) and his diary covering the period from January 1942 to May 1945.  Volkov was enlisted to the Russian Army in late 1914, took part in the First World War, and joined the Red Army in 1918; he was already a major general (one-star general in the Soviet and modern Russian military hierarchy) by 1941.  In May 1941 he received a new appointment to the post of chief artillery supply officer at the Western Special Military District that was transformed into the Western Front after the German invasion 22 June (renamed into the 3rd Belorussian Front in 1944).  He served in this position until the end of the war with Germany and took part in a number of its major operations including the defeat of the Soviet troops in Western Belorussia, the first Battle of Smolensk, Battle of Moscow, Battles of Rzhev in 1942–43, Operation Bagration (one of the most successful offensive operations of the Red Army), the Battle of Königsberg.  His account is quite different from the majority of Soviet war memoirs: he describes mostly not the operations themselves, but the functioning of the supply service, with special attention to the issues of logistics and prudent use of available resources.

Full text (PDF, 38 MB)

I prepared this book for publication in cooperation with Olga Dernova, my colleague from the State Historical Public Library of Russia that had helped me in my work at The Bibliography of Middle-earth.  The descendants of General Volkov are her neighbours; the world is a small place 😉

In Memory of Skype

Michael

Skype stopped functioning.  The client software doesn’t run anymore, within the next few months the users will still be able to download the archives of their chats.  It was the first really widespread videotelephony service in the Internet, and it remained the most popular for many years despite the rival services.  I began using it in 2011 when my university friend had to emigrate to the United States.  Even in recent months I had more contacts in Skype than in Telegram.  Since Microsoft bought Skype, it began getting worse and losing its popularity (and yes, it’s one of the reasons why I don’t like Microsoft), so finally they just decided to destroy it as a dead-end project in favour of Microsoft Teams (which was developed for quite different purposes however).

What can I say about this?  My respect to the programmers that developed Skype—for the revolution in technologies, and my thanks to them—for the years of successful usage of their software.  Microsoft Teams…well, I’m afraid it’s not my cup of tea.  Anyway, the Internet has changed a lot in recent years, so there are not so few VoIP services today.  I prefer Telegram, at least now.  Let’s stay in touch 🙂

Forthcoming…

Michael

Haven’t written here anything for quite a while, although there have been quite a lot of news actually.  The beginning of the year was rather messy (and, honestly speaking, a bit crazy), but nevertheless:

  • The third Russian version of The Bibliography of Middle-earth is already at the publishing department of my institute and is to appear in print this summer.  Several hundreds of new references have been added, among them both newly published works and some older ones not included into the previous version.
  • The first English version of The Bibliography of Middle-earth is also at our publishing department and is to appear this summer.  I hope it’ll be available for readers one way or another (at least electronically) despite the war.
  • The Memoir Notes by General Andrei Volkov are at our publishing department, too, and are to appear in May (in Russian).  The book, not published in Soviet time, is quite unusual from the viewpoint of genre because it contains both memoir chapters and diary entries by the author for 1942—first half of 1945.  During the Second World War, Volkov was responsible for artillery supply, in 1939—early 1941 at the Leningrad Military District, and in 1941–45 at the Western Front (renamed into the 3rd Belorussian Front in 1944).  His description of events is quite different from the majority of Soviet generals and marshals that commanded fronts and armies in battle.  His relatives are neighbours of Olga Dernova, my colleague from the State Historical Public Library of Russia, who helped me to prepare The Bibliography of Middle-earth for publication.  When she found out that I’m not only a Tolkien scholar, but also a historian of World War II, she proposed me to take part in editing Volkov’s book 😉
  • And finally, a collection of articles and reviews on current anglophone historiography of World War II is to be published in September.  I’m coediting it together with Igor Bogomolov (the head of my department).  We decided the volume should cover not only the Soviet–German war, but also the other theatres of operations, as well as various aspects of the social history.  The work is still in process, so follow the news 😉

Learning to Use Friendica

Michael

Finally I’ve run my own Friendica node, my profile is available here.

Unlike more familiar resources, such as Facebook, Instagram, X (former Twitter) etc., Friendica is a federative (decentralized) social network.  It has no central server (only public directories of nodes and users), everyone can run their own node.  If you don’t have such an opportunity, you may join one of existing nodes open for registration.  You can also download a full backup of your profile at any time and transfer it to another node if necessary.

All the nodes exchange data automatically, so that you can follow and send messages to all the other Friendica users no matter on which nodes they are registered.  Moreover, you can communicate with the users of the other federative social networks (a complex of such services is known as the fediverse) without registering there.  From the user’s viewpoint it looks as if you could follow microblogs on X, photo blogs on Instagram, or video channels on YouTube directly from your Facebook account.  It’s hard to imagine in the world of ‘traditional’ (that is, centralized) social networks, but not in Fediverse.

Friendica (as well as the Fediverse as a whole) is a purely non-commercial system, big nodes are usually funded through donations from their users.  As a result, there are neither commercial advertising nor artificial intelligence analysing your interests and preferences.  By contrast, significant attention is paid to the privacy of users: any private messaging is encrypted, as well as any locked posts and posts in closed communities, so that even the administrator of your node can’t read your messages.

There is also no centralized moderation.  Each node has its own rules, so you can choose not only a social network the functionality of which suits your own needs, but also a node the owners of which share your views.  Moreover, even the administrators of your node can moderate only your public posts.  The sanctions are used quite seldom, when the main principle ‘if you don’t like something—just don’t read it’ is not enough.  In exceptional cases, the administrator of a node may blacklist another node, thus blocking any data exchange, but such measures are mostly used against nodes that spread fraudulent spam or neo-Nazi propaganda.

All the feeds are sorted only chronologically, so you should be careful when choosing friends and subscriptions.  If the posts of some of your friends are of no interest for you, but you don’t wand to cancel your friendship, you may unsubscribe from their news.  They won’t notice that.

As to the weaknesses of Friendica and of the other federative social networks, the main of them is obvious: there are too few people in such services (all the Fediverse had only some 16 million users this May), so you will hardly meet there any of your ‘real’ friends or colleagues.  Unfortunately, the only way to resolve this problem is to join the Federation by yourselves 😉