... an exciting, first-rate contribution to our understanding of Soviet history on several levels... and the relationship between tsarist and Soviet educational policies and practices." --Ben Eklof Larry E. Holmes' book is a fine, expert study of a difficult topic." --The Historian ... this first-rate work definitely points the way toward a new understanding of the Soviet Union in the 1920s." --Journal of Modern History ... a succinct and original study of early Soviet education and an engaging disaggregation of the convoluted relations among ideology, politics, and social reality in a revolutionary society... This well-researched, innovative, and insightful study is required reading for any serious student of early Soviet history." --The Russian Review ... elegantly written, a pithy fast paced, and intersting book..." --East West Education Larry Holmes examines Soviet school policy from 1917 to 1931 in its ideological, political, institutional, and social dimensions.