2012

Honorable Mention: Kristin Roth-Ey
Title: Moscow Prime Time: How the Soviet Union Built the Media Empire that Lost the Cultural Cold War (Cornell University Press)

In Moscow Prime Time, Kristin Roth-Ey takes the reader on a fascinating journey through the Soviet media empire, from its inception in the 1950s through to its zenith under late Socialism. This smart and engaging book offers a probing analysis of the cultural mission that animated Soviet cinema, radio and television and of the forces that shaped and constrained it, including cold-war competition, technological change, and popular taste. Beautifully written and subtly argued, Moscow Prime Time casts new light on the mechanisms of Soviet cultural production and on the tensions that defined Soviet Culture in the mass media age. It is a lively, ambitious, and original study, with significant conclusions about both the strengths and weaknesses of the Soviet project.

Winner: Tracy Dennison