«Adds a new and important dimension to our understanding of Soviet wartime propaganda. Berkhoff explains as no one before how Stalin and his government wished to present the war to the people. Using previously unexamined materials, he shows that the propagandists who sold the war effort understood the struggle in an entirely different way than did those who ran the war machine itself. He also skillfully analyzes the decisions and policies of Stalin’s message-makers and chronicles the contradictions and confusion that resulted from some of their most ill-conceived directives.»

Jeffrey Brooks, author of <i>Thank You, Comrade Stalin! Soviet Public Culture from Revolution to Col

«I can only recommend this admirable work by an outstanding historian. Motherland in Danger is indispensable for anybody interested in the history of World War II, of propaganda, or of the Soviet experience… Accessible to undergraduates, it will stimulate historiographical debate among graduate students and scholars. Do not miss it.»

Mark Edele, American Historical Review

«Motherland in Danger is a superb contribution to our understanding of the Soviet home front and the role played more broadly by propaganda in Soviet history and the comparative history of the Second World War.»

Claire P. Kaiser, Nationalities Papers

«[Berkhoff] persuasively argues that, contrary to the popular notion that the war loosened Soviet cultural and political controls, the goal of mobilizing citizens led to greater centralization and censorship of information… He contends that censorship and centralization led to largely bland, uninspiring, and uninformative propaganda, which succeeded in its goal of mobilizing the population only because Nazi Germany’s war aims and practices left Soviet citizens no other choice but to resist. Berkhoff shows that, nevertheless, postwar (and post-Soviet) Russians largely subscribe to the myths created by wartime propaganda, indicating its enduring legacy.»

K. D. Slepyan, Choice