In The Russian Job: The Forgotten Story of How America Saved the Soviet Union from Ruin, historian Douglas Smith takes readers to early 1920s Soviet Russia. The country was gripped by famine, with millions in danger of starvation and cannibalism a horrifying new reality. Despite the official view of Western governments as capitalist predators, Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin had no choice but to request assistance from Europe and the United States. By far the largest share of aid came from the U.S. under the auspices of the American Relief Administration (ARA), the brainchild of Herbert Hoover.
Covering the two eventful years of ARA deployment in Russia, The Russian Job is a vivid, unforgettable account of how the U.S. distributed food, medicine and clothing to millions across the vast, restless country. Smith (Rasputin) draws on officials' diary entries, letters home to loved ones and photographs. The result is a skillful and haunting depiction of individual suffering among starving peasants; Russian couriers and railway workers, whose job it was to transport supplies across a broken transportation system; and ARA officials who executed Hoover's goodwill mission. These officials remained committed to their work while enduring life-threatening illnesses and soul-numbing winters.
Yet The Russian Job also transcends these stories of suffering to unearth exquisite instances of joy, romance, love and generosity, all of which flourished despite adversity and hardship.
Smith's bold resurrection of this neglected period in Russian-U.S. history is a remarkable accomplishment that will mesmerize readers with all the splendid elements of a compelling, real-life drama. --Shahina Piyarali, writer and reviewer