How Long to Read Cars for Comrades

How Long Does it Take to Read Cars for Comrades?

It takes the average reader 5 hours and 38 minutes to read Cars for Comrades by Lewis H. Siegelbaum

Assuming a reading speed of 250 words per minute. Learn more

Description

The automobile and Soviet communism made an odd couple. The quintessential symbol of American economic might and consumerism never achieved iconic status as an engine of Communist progress, in part because it posed an awkward challenge to some basic assumptions of Soviet ideology and practice. In this rich and often witty book, Lewis H. Siegelbaum recounts the life of the Soviet automobile and in the process gives us a fresh perspective on the history and fate of the USSR itself. Based on sources ranging from official state archives to cartoons, car-enthusiast magazines, and popular films, Cars for Comrades takes us from the construction of the huge "Soviet Detroits," emblems of the utopian phase of Soviet planning, to present-day Togliatti, where the fate of Russia's last auto plant hangs in the balance. The large role played by American businessmen and engineers in the checkered history of Soviet automobile manufacture is one of the book's surprises, and the author points up the ironic parallels between the Soviet story and the decline of the American Detroit. In the interwar years, automobile clubs, car magazines, and the popularity of rally races were signs of a nascent Soviet car culture, its growth slowed by the policies of the Stalinist state and by Russia's intractable "roadlessness." In the postwar years cars appeared with greater frequency in songs, movies, novels, and in propaganda that promised to do better than car-crazy America. Ultimately, Siegelbaum shows, the automobile epitomized and exacerbated the contradictions between what Soviet communism encouraged and what it provided. To need a car was a mark of support for industrial goals; to want a car for its own sake was something else entirely. Because Soviet cars were both hard to get and chronically unreliable, and such items as gasoline and spare parts so scarce, owning and maintaining them enmeshed citizens in networks of private, semi-illegal, and ideologically heterodox practices that the state was helpless to combat. Deeply researched and engagingly told, this masterful and entertaining biography of the Soviet automobile provides a new perspective on one of the twentieth century's most iconic—and important—technologies and a novel approach to understanding the history of the Soviet Union itself.

How long is Cars for Comrades?

Cars for Comrades by Lewis H. Siegelbaum is 328 pages long, and a total of 84,624 words.

This makes it 111% the length of the average book. It also has 103% more words than the average book.

How Long Does it Take to Read Cars for Comrades Aloud?

The average oral reading speed is 183 words per minute. This means it takes 7 hours and 42 minutes to read Cars for Comrades aloud.

What Reading Level is Cars for Comrades?

Cars for Comrades is suitable for students ages 12 and up.

Note that there may be other factors that effect this rating besides length that are not factored in on this page. This may include things like complex language or sensitive topics not suitable for students of certain ages.

When deciding what to show young students always use your best judgement and consult a professional.

Where Can I Buy Cars for Comrades?

Cars for Comrades by Lewis H. Siegelbaum is sold by several retailers and bookshops. However, Read Time works with Amazon to provide an easier way to purchase books.

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