Oleg Khlevniuk


Oleg Vitalyevich Khlevniuk is a Russian historian of the Soviet Union.

Career

He completed his Candidate of Sciences thesis on cultural change among Soviet urban workers between 1926–1939 at the Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union in 1986.
He taught at the history department of Moscow State University and is currently a professor at the Higher School of Economics.

Research and views

He has authored a number of books on the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin and the Gulag system. A review by The Times Literary Supplement described him as "one of a now endangered species: a Russian historian who collaborates with Western scholars and funding bodies to produce objective studies based on newly published documents", but criticized Khlevniuk for dismissing everything that has not been directly proven by archival documents.
His outlook on Soviet history is placed by Lewis Siegelbaum within the "neo-totalitarian" school.

Reception

He is a recipient, together with Yoram Gorlizki, of the 2004 Alec Nove Prize, awarded by the British Association for Slavonic & East European Studies, for their book Cold Peace: Stalin and the Soviet Ruling Circle, 1945–1953.
He received the Enlightener Prize in 2023.

Works

Books authored/edited

Начинается с человека. Человеческий фактор в социалистическом строительстве. Итоги и уроки 30-х годов The History of the Gulag: From Collectivization to the Great Terror 1937-й. Сталин, НКВД и советское общество The role of Gosplan in economic decision-making in the 1930s Сталин и Орджоникидзе. Конфликты в Политбюро в 30-е годы
  • * English translation: In Stalin's Shadow: The Career of "Sergo" Ordzhonikidze Политбюро. Механизмы политической власти в 30-е годы
  • * French translation: Le Cercle du Kremlin : Staline et le Bureau politique dans les années 30 : les jeux du pouvoir
  • * German translation: Das Politbüro. Mechanismen der politischen Macht in der Sowjetunion der dreissiger Jahre Cold Peace: Stalin and the Soviet Ruling Circle, 1945–1953
  • * Russian edition: Холодный мир. Сталин и завершение сталинской диктатуры ГУЛАГ. Экономика принудительного труда Master of the House: Stalin and His Inner Circle
  • * Russian edition: Хозяин. Сталин и утверждение сталинской диктатуры Stalin: New Biography of a Dictator
  • * Russian edition: Сталин. Жизнь одного вождя The Industrialisation of Soviet Russia, vol. 7: The Soviet Economy and the Approach of War, 1937–1939 Substate Dictatorship: Networks, Loyalty, and Institutional Change in the Soviet Union
  • ''Корпорация самозванцев. Теневая экономика и коррупция в сталинском СССР''