Red Arctic: Polar Exploration and the Myth of the North in the Soviet Union,1932-1939

This text explores Stalinist Russia's campaign to develop its Northern territories during the 1930s. The author exposes the reality behind the polar expeditions, and traces the development of the polar-based popular culture of the decade, making use of memoirs and other cultural ephemera.
A work of refreshing originality and vivid appeal, Red Arctic tells the story of Stalinist Russia's massive campaign to explore and develop its Northern territories during the 1930s. Author John McCannon recounts the dramatic stories of the polar expeditions-conducted by foot, ship, and plane-that were the pride of Stalinist Russia, in order to expose the reality behind them: chaotic blunders, bureaucratic competition, and the eventual rise of the Gulag as
the dominant force in the North. Red Arctic also traces the development of the polar-based popular culture of the decade, making use of memoirs, films, radio broadcasts, children's books, and cultural ephemera ranging from placards to postage stamps to show how Russia's "Arctic Myth" became an integral part
of the overall socialist-realist aesthetic that animated Stalinist culture throughout the 1930s.