Book Review by Donald Abenheim of Politics and the Russian Army: Civil-Military relations, 1680-2000 by Brian D. Taylor

The article of record as published may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0491.2004.00269.xFrom the cinematic clatter of hooves on soundstage palace stairwells of July 1762, as depicted in Josef von Sternberg’s 1934 movie, The Scarlet Empress, to the televised clank of real armored treads on Moscow’s loop highway in August 1991, the specter of the martial figure thrusting himself into politics astride a horse or a tank turret has been a constant feature in thinking about the character of the Russian and Soviet state. Yet, in the important analysis of Professor Brian D. Taylor — a political scientist of promise at the University of Oklahoma—this ageold perceived wisdom poorly describes the reality of the soldier and the state in Russia from the end of the 17th century until the beginning of this century. This study, which spans from Peter the Great through Alexander I to Stalin, Krushchev, and finally to Yeltsin, seeks to correct the assumptions of the previous literature on the subject, which now appears a remnant of a half-forgotten era