The book can also serve as an excellent first guide to most historiographical debates about the post-war Soviet Union. (English Historical Review, 1 April 2014)
But by re-arranging known phenomena his fascinating book offers new and consistent perspectives on the last Russian and Soviet decades. It is one of the best introductions to the focused period of time. (Jahrbucher fur Geschichte Osteuropas, 1 May 2013)
With its capacity for engaging synthesis of the scholarly literature of the period and pioneering insight into historiographical commonplaces, Lovell's elegantly formulated and delightfully illustrated history is an indisputable asset to any scholarly bookshelf. (Slavonica, 1 May 2013)
Lovell, in particular, has written an accomplished and stimulating book. (European History Quarterly, 2012)
There are different ways to write a survey of Russian history, and most of them have been tried many times. Yet Simon Dixon, the editor of this excellent three-volume series, has invited his authors to do something new. (Slavonic and East European Review, 1 April 2012)
It is easy to read, is based on recent research in English and Russian, covers a wide range of issues, and has an up-to-date and very well informed approach to its subject. Its moderate optimism about the future is a welcome counterbalance to the current predominantly negative Western assessment of modern Russia. (The Russian Review, 1 October 2011)
Stephen Lovell's The Shadow of War is a work of a different kind: a textbook which should appeal also to a general readership. It is both a social and political history and provides an excellent synthesis of the Russian experience from the Second World War to the present. (History Today, 1 August 2011)
Shadow of War is an astute topical approach to Soviet/Russian history from 1941 to the beginnings of the Medvedev presidency in 2008. Its clarity and first-rate scholarship make it exceptionally enlightening on major socioeconomic and national conditions and post-Soviet matters generally. (Michigan War Studies Review, November 2010)
