The Central Archive of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB, the internal security component of the former Soviet KGB) has never been accessible to the vast majority of researchers, but the archive has made available some important collections of declassified material. This anthology of articles, speeches, and interviews, published by the head of the FSB's archival service, Vasilii Khristoforov, is of great value.
The book provides the reader with an extensive collection of materials presenting the history of Soviet Russia from the perspective of the USSR's security services. The volume gives scholars an opportunity to learn the views of the FSB's chief historian, including disputed issues. The items that were used for the drafting of articles and speeches consist mainly of archival documents from the Soviet KGB in its various incarnations (NKVD, OGPU, etc.).
The volume is not the result of any single project. Instead, it reflects some of the variegated...