Soviet Studies [Library Week]

As mentioned yesterday, the Soviet Studies section at the Glasgow University Library is HUGE! (.gif file here, in new window) Especially considering the amount of volumes largely outnumbers the amount of Politics volumes, and by quite a bit, I’ve always wondered why the collection is so vast.

I may have found a partial answer with some digging, and the answer is donations, from three specific people in particular: Louis Sinclair, the widow of Isaac Deutscher, and Rudolf Schlesinger.

Sinclair donated an extensive collection of works by and about Trostky in numerous languages. Deutscher was Trotsky’s biographer, and Schlesinger was a co-founder of the University’s Institute of Soviet and East European Studies.

If Communism and Socialism are your interests, or you like to dabble in Soviet History, the Glasgow University Library has  a, well, an extensive and overwhelming collection of many original works.

This post is a part of Library Week (June 22nd – 28th)
Don’t forget to visit the Library website, their Flickr account, and their blog.

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