A survey of high and low art, official and unofficial, in the Soviet Union and the West in the Cold War years, 1945-62, this book examines the paradox that the Soviet Union, a nation born of revolution, should have encouraged official art which was conservative and conformist, whereas western Europe, and the USA in particular, should preach traditional and conservative values, but have a high art which spoke of dissent. Christine Lindey's study examines these paradoxes and illustrates many artists, notably those from the Soviet Union, whose work has rarely been seen in the west. As Glasnost changes our perceptions of contemporary Soviet Union, this is a history of all aspects of art there in the post-war years, set in the political context, and comparing it with developments in art in the West.