One may expect from the title of this book that it answers the question, or at least tries to find the explanation. Unfortunately, it does not. This is not a book about Soviet science written for Western scientists. This is a rather academic analysis of the interaction between party organizations at different levels and scientific networks (with special attention to the functions of party bureaus and committees inside Soviet research and educational establishments). This is a book written by a professional Sovietologist for professional Sovietologists.
The author expects that his readers know Soviet history and the many developments in Soviet science during the Lenin, Stalin and Khrushchev eras, the structure of the Soviet scientific establishment, the problems that Soviet science tried to solve in the past, and a lot more. Fortesque, therefore, leaves these problems beyond his attention, review and analysis.
Many events that are peculiar to science in a ...
