Power and the Sacred in Revolutionary Russia

Power and the Sacred in Revolutionary Russia: Religious Activists in the Village, volume 1, examines the complex relationship between the Bolshevik state and rural religious life. While much historical focus remains on Soviet propaganda and the seizure of church property, Glennys Young shifts the perspective toward the peasants themselves. This history explores how ordinary Russian citizens maintained their faith during the New Economic Policy period from 1921 to 1928.

The text details how Orthodox clergy and laity organized resistance against antireligious organizations like the League of the Godless. By utilizing village soviets to defend their interests, these religious activists forced the Party-state to adapt its strategies of persecution. This work serves as a significant resource for scholars of church history, communism and Christianity, and Russian social conditions. It provides deep insight into the intersection of church and state within the context of Soviet rural politics.