A work of historical synthesis, this volume covers in a remarkably comprehensive manner the foreign and defense policy of the Soviet Union from Lenin's 1917 revolution to the demise of communism and the ascendancy of Boris Yeltsin. Nation has properly defined security policy in a broad way so as to include its domestic roots. He has culled a vast quantity of literature, including Russian writings, covering the entire epoch. The analysis is sound. Others may bring their novel interpretations, but this work's value lies in its smooth-flowing detailed summary of security policy during the Soviet experiment.